Beauty and Beast
by Angellufy
Summary: No! It has nothing to do with the classic Disney. Buffy got something more out of her night of passion with Angel. Probably, AU season 3.
1. In Hell

I didn't decide yet, but probably it will be sort of AU for season 3.

Buffy got a lot more from hers and Angel's one night together than she thought.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

When Xander came back, Buffy was curled in a ball protecting her swollen belly on the floor of the mansion. She was sobbing and her body shook violently with the force of her despair. At that moment, he knew what she had done.

Xander lifted her in his arms to get her to Giles' car. He drove to the nearest hospital so she and the baby could be checked. She didn't say a word to either of them and seemed lost in her own misery. Almost everyone was now standing in the emergency waiting room, but they had no news about Buffy and the baby. Giles had called Mrs. Summers and she was about to arrive.

- How is Buffy?  
- Joyce. Uh… please sit down.

Joyce Summers had one companion feeling lately. Fear. Fear for daughter safety. After discovering everything about Buffy's secret life she became a lot more protective of her daughter and had many arguments with her so she'd leave this life behind. They could move again to another city and she even suggested to Buffy she could get rid of the baby, which ensued the worst argument between them. She was told the father of the baby was a vampire. Of course, she didn't believe it and accused Buffy of lying to her because the father probably didn't want anything to do with his pregnant girlfriend. Buffy said it was her house and she could kick her out, but she would not let anything or anyone hurt her baby. After it, Buffy went to live with Giles, while Joyce closed her mind to everything else… … for a while. Then, Angel appeared, Spike appeared, she saw one of them being killed. She'd never forget the face of the beast… or the small bump in her daughter once flat abdomen.

- Buffy had… to save the world. She fought Angelus. It seems she succeed, but at a great price for her. She had to… to send him to hell I believe. She is inside, but we don't know anything yet.

Joyce remembered Angel… or Angelus. She had first met him as a student tutoring Buffy and he seemed a fine young man, old to be her daughter boyfriend, but still a fine young man. She would see him again months later and she didn't like the young man that second time. Maybe her subconscious recognized the man was not the same she met previously… but she would never expect him to be a vampire. He was the one to tell her Buffy was pregnant.

- Good! It is the place the bastard should be!

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Buffy was sleeping in her bed. Dreaming.

- Hi. Love.

It was Angel… dressed in white. The color suited him as much as the black look. He was outside her window, while Buffy sat in her bed dressed only in a white gown, her swollen belly evident.

- You came.  
- Of course. I have to see both of you.  
- You'll never leave us, will you?  
- No. Never. You and my son are the most wonderful thing in my… well… death.  
- Why can't you come in? Come in. Don't you want to touch me and feel your son?  
- Yes. I want. That is the thing I want the most. But I can't.  
- I have to find a way to get you back.  
- It can't be done.  
- Yes. I know it can.

Suddenly, Angel was transparent and then disappeared. Buffy woke up.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

- What are you looking, sister?  
- This can't be. We lost both champions. Why The Powers don't do anything so she can use her key?  
- It's not their or our concern. If she wants him back she will have to find out about the key and use it. I can't negate they are soulmate and champions. A rather rare combination. They were destined to find each other, destined to be. Because of the love she holds for him the key will work. Together they are powerful, but there will always be champions. Besides, her son will be the greatest of them and as long as he survive the balance will be right.  
- That is it, brother. He has to survive. The Chosen One is broken. The baby will need her to survive and she needs the Dark Light Warrior to live. Something has to be done or the balance will shift forever. We know that she has to use the key of her own accord and when the time comes he will be human. The baby will need protection every day and she alone won't be able to do it.  
- Yes, but we can't interfere.

The male Oracle left.

- Yes, brother. We can't interfere directly, but nobody said anything about clues.


	2. Dreams and a key

Days went by after she killed Angel and she never talked to anyone or left her room in three months, except to go to the obstetrician. Giles and Willow had tried to coax her to tell what happened back in the mansion, but how could she tell them she had to send her Angel to hell and not Angelus? How could she tell them about the nightmares of him being tortured there?

Before Angel's demise, she slayed normally and the pregnancy made her a lot stronger than she already was, but now the rest of the gang was taking care of the vampire killing. Buffy decided to leave Sunnydale behind after the baby was born. She couldn't live there anymore and she didn't want her child to grow around death and pain. Angel was not there, but she would take care of the half he left in this world.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

She was dreaming again, this time it was not one of his visits or some nightmare about torture in hell. This time it was her holding her Claddagh ringinside the mansion. She was looking at the ring while crying. She left it on the floor of the mansion.

During the next days she dreamed about the same thing over and over and over. The dream didn't seem prophetic and she didn't want to give up the most precious thing he gave to her.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

It was night. Buffy left her house and went straight to the mansion. At her seventh month of pregnancy, she would be an easy target for vampires, but she was The Slayer and after her fight to death with Angelus, rumors spread around that she was a lot stronger while pregnant than her normal self. So, vampires avoided to cross path with her as much as possible.

Buffy felt trapped in her house and after one week of the same dream, the last two nights it finalized in a blinding white light, she decided she had to check the mansion, although she didn't want to go back there again.

The place was deserted and Acathla was not there anymore. Giles had told her it couldn't open a gate to hell again because when the gate was closed the sword that was the key was not in the stone. It went to hell with Angelus.

The big hall was illuminated by the full moon light and Buffy stood there. The look in Angel's eyes when he opened them after she had run him with her sword would be forever imprinted in her mind. She had killed the man she loved. Buffy kneeled and put the ring in the floor. She looked at it for the last time and left the mansion… running.

If she had stayed for a minute she would have seen a blinding white light.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy arrived at home and went straight to her bedroom. Joyce was still at the gallery and she felt relieved. She could cry in peace.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

He was naked, hot and shivering. After a while, he sniffed the air and for a moment he thought she was there. What were they cooking for him in Hell? Bringing her smell? Didn't they have enough?

The Beast conscience was consumed by the hundreds of years of torture. They showed him her. So many times. She… marrying some man and giving birth to his children. She spiting in his face and laughing on the face of his love. She… fighting for her life among a sea of vampires and other demons. She… being tortured by some demon on Earth… and in hell. There was a particular being who changed himself into her… it would touch him and they would make love… and then it would reveal himself… and everyone would laugh out of his misery. She pregnant with his child. They in sunlight. Their marriage. What was true? What was not?

After a while, The Beast felt the cool air of night and looked around. The place seemed familiar, but he forgot… forgot almost everything… except her. Her smell stayed strong and he could hear her soul calling for him. Could it be? Was he back? The light he saw in Hell was a door to Earth again? Everything was so confusing.

_Her smell._

_His mate._

_The calling was so strong. _

_Go. He had to go._

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy was sleeping in her bed dressed in one of Angel's shirt she brought from his old apartment. Her window was open so the cold night could sooth her tears and soul. She was dreaming again.

- Hi, my love.

- Hi, Angel.

- Why were you crying?

- I can't take it. I can't take it anymore. I miss you so much.

- I'm here.

- No. You are not here. You won't come inside. I want you to hold me… if not… if not in the real world, just here.

Angel finally entered her room.

- Angel. You… you are inside my room.

- Now I can.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

The Beast was outside the window looking at her. She was mumbling something in her sleep and seemed sad. Her face was stained with something.

_Fear._

_He should fear her._

_Enemy._

_She was his enemy._

_Soothe._

_He had to soothe her._

_Protect._

_Protect what was his._

_Love._

_Love her._

The Beast sniffed her smell in the air. It was intoxicating. He jumped inside the room through the window and approached her. Her smell. His smell.

He gathered her in his arms.

_Soothe. Protect. Love._

_Soothe. Protect. Love._

_Soothe. Protect. Love._

_Soothe. Protect. Love._

_Soothe. Protect. Love._


	3. Angel

Joyce arrived at home. She didn't like leaving Buffy alone during much time because of her pregnancy. Buffy was taking care of herself accordingly because of and for the baby. Joyce was still amazed on how her seventeen years old daughter could be so protective of something. She had seen it first hand when she stupidly suggested her to get rid of the baby.

Joyce liked to check on her first thing in the morning and at night when she came back of the gallery, besides calling all day. Her room was quite. Maybe she was sleeping. Joyce opened the door and turned on the light… to be granted with a sight both terrifying and loving.

Angel cradling her sleeping daughter who had nothing but a small smile in her face.

Suddenly she saw a pair of yellow eyes staring at her and heard a growl.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Joyce panicked. What to do? The thing was holding her daughter and as long as she could see, it hadn't hurt her. She looked at her daughter again and retreated from the room immediately. Angel. What was him doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be death? Her daughter was in danger, but what could she do? She'd seen one of those things and she knew she didn't stand a chance.

The phone.

- Mr. Giles.

- Who is it?

- Joyce. Joyce Summers. We have an emergency.

- What? Is it the baby?

- Angel… Angelus… is back.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Giles drove to Buffy's house knowing he would have to pay some tickets. He didn't care. He was back. How was that possible? He was with Buffy. How did he enter her house? Was he Angel or Angelus? Did Willow's curse succeed?

- Oh, Giles. Thank God.

- Where…?

- Upstairs. Her bedroom.

- Have you seen anything? Blood?

- No. I don't think he hurt her. He is just holding her while she sleeps. I braved myself and went there again… just… just to check. He won't leave me approach them.

Giles went straight to Buffy's bedroom. He opened the door quietly and found the same scene Joyce had said to him. Buffy sleeping in the arms of a very naked and dirty Angelus. He could see the rise and fall of her chest and there was no mark on her neck or blood around to indicate Angelus had hurt her.

After a while, a pair of yellow eyes met his and for a moment he thought the vampire recognized him. Giles saw agony in the yellow eyes, which reverted to their brown color, but when he tried to approach the bed Angel growled warningly. Giles took care to stay away from the bed, but went to the window to close the curtains. Angel's eyes were bored into him the whole time.

He was Angel, definitively. Angelus would never be that protective of Buffy.

Buffy had sent Angel to Hell.

What to do?

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- Giles.

- Joyce. I think we are dealing with Angel.

- What can we do?

- I'm afraid that nothing at least nothing until Buffy wakes up. I think that he has no semblance of a self, but he came to her. So I hope he will respond better to her presence.

- But… but… we can't leave Buffy with him if he lost his mind.

- Joyce. Angel wouldn't do anything to hurt Buffy.

- How can you be sure?

- Please sit down. When Buffy first met Angel, she didn't like him. He was just the cryptic man with information on other vampires. They shared a kiss and he couldn't control himself. So she discovered what he was. She decided to kill him when she thought it was him who attacked you. We discovered it was in fact Darla, his sire. A sire is the vampire that made a vampire. There is a strong bond between sires and their children and grandchildren, but Angel killed Darla to save Buffy. He tried to stay way, but events kept throwing them together. He finally gave up and they started to date. Nobody knew what was to come. Not even Jenny.

- I know I never wanted to know about them before, but do you really think he loved her?

- As long as I hate Angelus for killing Jenny, I know for a fact that Angel loved Buffy with devotion. It was their night of passion that triggered his curse. He couldn't have a true moment of happiness. If so, the soul would be taken from him.

- Oh my! This is… this is horrible.

- Yes. I can't even conceive Buffy's guilt about it, although neither of them is to be blamed. If Angel gets some sort of recovery and he remembers what Angelus had done, I presume Buffy will have a hard time ahead.

- Why?

- Because of the soul. He was a tortured person when we first knew him. I can't imagine how he will feel when they brought back to him what he did to Buffy and her friends. I can't imagine what he will try to do to himself.

- He loved my daughter then.

- In the night of her seventeen birthday he gave her a ring. He was leaving the country because of some threat to us all.

- I saw Buffy holding such a ring.

- Yes. The ring is a wedding band in his country. Even if not valid here or even in his country, he did married her in a way. I think that was why he allowed himself to love her.

- How could he make a child with my daughter?

- I… I believe that he drank from Buffy during their encounter. Slayer blood has regenerative properties.

Joyce looked horrified to Giles. Her daughter left a vampire drink blood from her.

- Joyce. Angel is a vampire. With a soul he can control the urges of the demon, but maybe in this particular moment with the happiness and everything else… I think he hadn't.

- How can… how can he be here? Didn't Buffy fight Angelus?

- I have no doubt he was in Hell and how he came back is a mystery to me and I must consult my books. As for being here, inside the house, I think that it is the bond they shared and the baby that is his. As for Angelus, I think that Buffy… sent Angel to Hell instead of the demon.

- No! My poor baby! She… she had to kill the man she loved!

- Yes. Willow was cursing him again at the same time they were fighting. I think Buffy couldn't prevent Angelus from opening the portal to Hell. She didn't have a choice. Once the portal was open only Angel's death could close it and avoid the world be sucked into Hell. Since the soul couldn't reach the body while it was in Hell, my theory is that the soul was returned to the body while it was here… only too late.

**AN:**

**I know. I am a bad, bad, bad, bad… Did I say bad?****... person. I will leave everyone guessing what will happen when Buffy realizes Angel is back.**

**See you next chapter!**


	4. It is love

**Thank you for the reviews! So, here it is! Buffy finally finds her Angel is back.**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy was dreaming. Angel finally crossed the window and was holding her in the bed. She snuggled close to him and let herself be dragged to sleep. She woke up at seven in the morning… her head resting in a hard chest… a chest she knew too well. It could not be! She was… she was dreaming, wasn't she?

She slowly looked at the eyes of Angel… who was staring at her.

Buffy screamed and bolted from the bed. Angel did the same and recoiled in the corner opposite to her. Both said their names.

- Angel.

- Buffy.

Giles and Joyce came running to Buffy's bedroom when they heard the scream.

- Buffy, sweet, what? Oh my.

Giles and Joyce were in the door of her bedroom. Buffy looked from them to a dirty and naked Angel in the far corner of the room. For the first time in months, Joyce and Giles heard her say a complete phrase.

- Am I… am I dreaming? Is this real?

She was pleading it could be real. Her fast beating heart was telling it. That tingle that only he could cause in her spine was telling her it was true, but what if it was another nightmare? What if this was her punishment? Was her Angel back? She looked at Giles with huge eyes full of unshed tears.

- Buffy. He is Angel.

She turned around and left the tears ran. She didn't care. She fainted.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- Buffy!

Angel said Buffy's name and left his place fast then anyone could see and held Buffy before she hit the floor. She was semiconscious and he put her gently in the bed. She opened her eyes and touched his face. He was her Angel; she could see it in his eyes. He smelled funny, was naked, but was him.

- You are back. Oh, God! You are back.

Angel leaned against her hand, but got frantic when he saw her crying. He used his hand to caress her hair, her belly and touch the tears that were running down her face. Without knowing what to do, he opened his hand and gave her ring back. Buffy looked at him and the ring and started to laugh.

He looked at Giles and Joyce and growled again. It was then that Buffy realized something was wrong with him.

- Giles. What is wrong with him?

- Buffy. I think it is better if you… well… get him to shower and dress. We can talk later. I'll be downstairs.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- Angel. Can you understand me?

Besides Buffy's name he was not able to say a single word. Buffy's eyes watered again. What had they done to him in Hell? Her nightmares were so vivid, like Technicolor with surround sound. She held his face in her hands and kissed his lips softly. He recoiled a little.

- Oh, Angel! You will be you again. I promise. Now shower.

Buffy offered her hand to him which he took after looking at it for some seconds. She took him to the bathroom so he would shower. Clothes were not a problem since he was already naked. He jumped when he saw water running from the shower.

- Shower.

- Shower.

- That's it. Shower.

Buffy tried to get him into the shower, but he wouldn't. So, she did something extreme. She took her own clothes, which consisted only of Angel's shirt, and stepped in the shower herself. Buffy saw his eyes over her belly, caught his attention, and looked at him, her belly and him so he would understand.

- Belly.

- Belly.

- Yes.

She grabbed his hand and brought it to her skin.

- Hand.

- Hand.

- Yes.

In that exact moment the baby moved and Angel's eye widened when he felt it.

- Child.

- My child.

Buffy eyes watered with his acknowledgment. He was behaving strangely, but he could still recognize what was his.

- Yes. Your child.

She caressed his face and he leaned into her hand. Then, he tentatively entered the shower. Neither Buffy nor Angel was attentive to the fact they were naked in the same room. After a while, he was clean and wore one of his clothes that Buffy had around.

- Shower.

- Yes. Angel, sweet. Shower.

He yawned and Buffy helped him into her bed. After he was settled she tried to leave because she wanted to speak with Giles anxiously, but she decided to wait for him to be fully asleep to go downstairs.

- Sleep.

- Sleep.

- Yes, sweet. Just close your eyes.

Buffy knew she said the wrong thing the moment Angel growled and bolted to the window, but the sun hit him when he removed the curtains and he came back to the bed. He looked completely terrified.

- No! Angel, baby! Please! I'm… I'm sorry.

- Buffy, what happened? Do you need any help?

Giles came running to her room as he heard her scream, but he found both on bed and Angel looking afraid at Buffy… of Buffy. A Master Vampire afraid of something? That would be interesting if not for the situation.

- Giles… it is alright. I was trying to get him to sleep and I just… I said something I shouldn't and he got afraid. That's all.

Giles held Buffy's arms. Angel's eyes flashed yellow and he growled loudly. The vampire lost his sense of a self, but Buffy was still the only thing he truly cared about… even if afraid of her.

- Can you handle it?

- Yes. Please. Just leave.

Angel calmed down when he saw her pleading eyes. She approached him slowly on the bed and he allowed her to embrace him. She pulled his head against her chest and he encircled her waist. He was trembling. After a while Buffy helped him to lie down and he was sleeping.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: Next chapter, Buffy'****s friends will know Angel will be back! How will they react? Stay tuned.**


	5. Meeting the friends

**Hey all! One more chapter. Enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- How… how is he?

- He is sleeping, mom. Thank you. Giles, why he is like this?

- Buffy. It is said that time in Hell is different from here. While here it has been only three months since everything happened it is hundreds of years in Hell. Angel went there with a soul, I presume…

Buffy shook her head with watered eyes.

- … He was the object of torture for all those years. He lost any resemblance of a self, of a person; he is nothing more than an animal.

- He is not an animal!

- Everything… everything he knows now is pain… and… and your name. I don't know if he will be ever a person… well a sane vampire… as sane as a vampire can be… again.

- He will. I know he will. He remembers me, doesn't he? I… I… killed… him and he still came to me when he came back.

- That is remarkable I must say. He truly loved you. Deeply.

- I know. It is the same for me.

- We have to know how he came back.

- I… I think I know what happened. About a week ago I started to have these dreams. I always dreamed about Angel, of us together in the sun or playing with our son. Sometimes there were nightmares also. Torture.

Buffy closed her eyes and held back a wave of nausea.

- Buffy. I'm so sorry.

Joyce Summers was torn between pride and sorrow for her daughter. She had to face so much.

- I know. Well, one week ago. I started to dream about… about my ring… about leaving it in the mansion. At first I thought it was nothing, but every time I dreamed there was one more piece. Yesterday I went there and decided to leave the ring there. I think that it was the ring that did the trick. Angel gave it back to me as you saw.

- I must research it.

Giles had some idea of what must have happened, but he had to be sure of it. For that he would have to consult his books about the soulmate lore, which he didn't know much about.

- Giles. I know… I know that I'm asking you too much, but can you… can you buy some blood for him?

- Of course, Buffy. I also think we should tell the others about everything. Should I call them?

- Yes. Better if we break the news soon. Giles, thank you.

- No matter.

- Mom… can he stay here? I know that you have reasons to not want it and here is your house, but I can't leave him alone. I won't. So, if there is any problem I'd rather know so I can go with him to the mansion.

- No, sweet. He can stay here.

- Thank you.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- G man! What is this meeting so early in a Saturday morning? Some impending evil?

Giles looked around at the room and his children. Oz, Willow, Xander and Cordelia. They were the little bundled that came attached to the Slayer and he was proud of the friends she found in them. He was positive that their presence together with Angel was the thing that kept his slayer going… including going against her own death. He hoped her time as a slayer could inspire the Council to change the way they handled other slayers in the future… in the distant future.

- No, Xander.

- So, what is it Giles?

- Well. Something happened yesterday to Buffy and she will need all the help she can to deal with it.

- Is it something with the baby?

- No, Willow. Not the baby… but his father.

- What about that murderous fiend?

- Xander!

Xander turned to Buffy and said with a smirk in his face.

- I'm sorry, Buffy. You can paint it the way you want, but he was a murder and is in his well deserved place in H…

Xander never finished what he was saying because of the inhuman scream they heard. Buffy hurried upstairs.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- Angel.

- Buffy.

He was sat in the bed, rubbing his eyes, looking confused and trembling. He was in full vamp face. She held his hand tentatively, but he pulled her to his lap and held her firmly, breathing her scent. Was he afraid she was not real?

Buffy let her body comfort him. Show him that she was there for him. After a while, she heard him purring and felt her body relax against him. He trusted her.

- Angel. I want you to go with me. See people.

- People.

- Yes.

Buffy left the comfort of his body and stretched her hand for him to take. They started descending the stairs slowly so he would not trip.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- My God, what was that?

Xander looked at Giles.

- Giles…

Giles and Willow shared a knowing look.

- Yes. Willow.

- Oh, my!

Willow shared a look with Oz who, being a werewolf, already knew Angel was around. His scent was in the air.

- What people? Can you share it, please?

Everyone attention was taken by the sound of steps in the stair and Buffy telling someone to go easy. Their jaws still dropped when Buffy appeared holding Angel's hand.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**I'm being bad again… next chapter more of Buffy's friends! Keep guessing!**


	6. Chimera

**More "friendly" reactions! Enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Xander was the first to recover. He bolted from the couch and looked accusingly to Buffy, with contempt in his eyes and voice.

- WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE IS THIS? WHAT IS THIS FIEND DOING HERE?

- Xander! Calm down!

- No. Willow. He was supposed to be in Hell. What is… how he…?

He breathed hard and gave Buffy a strange look.

- You… you lied to us? Is that it? You… you hid this… this monster of a lover of yours! Now what? What is the story you cooked?

Buffy looked completely startled and hurt, her body trembling and her eyes watered, but before anyone could say anything, Xander was thrown on the floor by a very much pissed off vampire… in full game face. Angel jumped him and stayed face-to-face with Xander baring his fangs for the younger boy to see while growling and moving his face in front of Xander, smelling his fear. His eyes flashed red.

- Angel, No!

- No.

Buffy shook her head. Angel looked at Buffy and then back at Xander growling into his face. He left Xander on the floor and went to Buffy's arms. She embraced him until he calmed down and turned back to his human facade. Buffy and he sat in the couch.

- Buffy, how?

Buffy told Willow and everyone what happened in the last fifteen hours of her life. She broke down in tears in the end and Angel pulled her in his arms. He looked with yellow eyes to everyone in the room, growled softly and then started to purr until Buffy calmed down.

- Over protective much!

- Yes. Cordelia. As a matter of fact he is. He is treating everything and everyone as a menace to Buffy and his child. So I suppose we should be careful of what and how we say things to Buffy while he is around. At least for a while… and that is especially true for you, Xander.

- What? I can't believe it. Giles, are you defending this…?

- Yes. Xander. I am the one that lost my everything when Angelus killed Jenny. Despite it, she liked Buffy and respected Angel enough to try and fix the curse so we could bring his soul back.

- Yes. And she lost her life for that. If she hadn't tried maybe she would still be here.

- Maybe, but that… that was her choice. The soul should not be blamed for anything the demon did. I know perfectly well your concerns about Jenny's demise, but don't use it as a means to attack Angel. He never did anything to you besides love the girl you had your eyes on. Look at him, Xander… really look at him. The soul spent years in Hell being tortured for a lot of things it didn't. I saw him this morning smelling of sulfur, with cuts in his body, completely dirty. He doesn't have a lot of sense of anything besides Buffy. He spent years in there and forgot everything and everyone, including himself, but not Buffy. If he is the one to make Buffy happy I won't stand in their way. She may not live to tell the tale, but I want her happy every minute of her existence. We had already a lot of casualties around here.

Xander looked at everyone in the room and stormed out of the house.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Willow was the first one to take tentative steps towards Buffy while she was in Angel's lap. He kept yellow-eyeing Willow, but she stood her ground and touched Buffy's hand. Buffy touched Angel's face.

- Angel. Willow. Friend.

- Willow. Friend.

- Yes, sweet.

Angel could not smell fear or anger coming from Willow, so his eyes turned back to the usual brown.

- Buffy, do you need anything?

- Not right now. I'm just glad he is back.

- Me too. It is nice to hear your voice again.

- Thank you.

- Do you know you can count on me for whatever you need, don't you? To talk or take care of him in case you need. Anything.

Both girls embraced.

- Giles. Joyce. Willow.

- Yes, Angel. Friends.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

After the meeting, Giles left to buy blood. When he came back he found Willow and Buffy talking about the baby under the watchful eyes of Angel. The smell of blood disrupted the vampire. His eyes flashed yellow and his true face slowly appeared, but he didn't left his place neither looked at Giles.

- Buffy, I think Angel is hungry.

- He must be. Thank you Giles. Will, we can talk a little late. I have to help him to feed.

- Ok.

Buffy took Angel upstairs while Joyce took Giles and Willow to the door. When the door behind them closed, Willow turned to Giles.

- Giles. Have you told her?

- No. Willow. I didn't say anything before because I thought it would hurt too much for her to know. It didn't matter anymore with him in Hell, but I think it is safe to say it is better if she knows Jenny changed the curse so there won't be more happiness issues. Jenny feared that anyone could take Angel's soul using other means. The curse bound his soul to the demon, so if someone tried to take it even using magic, the person would not succeed. Since the demon is the righteous owner of the body he won't leave and neither the soul bound to him.

- Now that is what I call vengeance.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Out of other people eyes he was hungry and went for the first vessel with blood like a mad man. In that moment Buffy couldn't hold a wave of nausea and run to throw up in the left the second vessel of blood to help her. He picked up a towel and humidified it in the sink after which he cleaned Buffy's face and neck just like he saw her doing in the morning during their shower.

- Shower?

Buffy smiled at Angel and he smiled back. Since he came back that was the first smile he gave her. Buffy's heart skipped a beat. He was gorgeous… and had blood spattered in his shirt.

- Shower.

They took a bath together again. After it, Buffy showed him using a glass and water how to drink the blood from the vessel and he did as she showed him so his shirt wouldn't get dirty again, but he made her leave the bathroom before the feeding.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: Xander is always the pain in the ass when Angel is the subject. But… Willow is always the caring one! Buffy is five by five. Let's see if Xander can come around his jealousy.**

**I named the chapter Chimera because of the different reactions of Buffy's friends.  
**


	7. Patrolling

**Yay! A new chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- Buffy. You didn't go on patrol in the last three months. You seemed to not care about it anymore. Why this sudden interest again? You can't go on patrol tonight… or anytime soon for that matter. You are pregnant.

- Mom, Angel will be with me.

- Buffy Summers, you won't go patrolling. Even if Angel is with you, and I know he will protect you, you can't jump into a fight. Buffy, please, a kick in your belly can hurt the baby. Do you want it?

- No. Buffy. Child. Safe.

For their surprise, it was Angel's voice. One week had passed since he came back and he was steadily improving.

- See, even not in his full mental capacity, Angel agrees with me.

- Ok, ok, you two. I won't go exactly patrolling. If I promise to be arms away, just looking, can I at least watch.

- Buffy!

- Angel will be there, mom. Angel can go with Giles and the others and help. It will be good for him to go out.

Joyce looked at Angel and decided it was time to talk properly to the father of her grandchild.

- Angel. Buffy safe?

Angel smiled brightly at Joyce and she understood why her daughter fell in love with him. He was really a nice man… well, vampire. He seemed to care for her daughter that was plenty to see. She didn't approve of all of this insanity, but as long as her daughter was happy, so she'd be too.

- My Buffy. My Child. Safe.

- Come on, Angel.

Angel took Buffy's hand and left.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Giles and the others were waiting for the couple in his house. He didn't think it was a good idea for the pregnant slayer to go with them into patrolling, but he knew nobody would convince her of the contrary. At least, Angel would be with them.

- Buffy. Angel.

- Hi. Let's go.

- No.

- How is it no? Of course we can go.

- Buffy, you are pregnant…

- I know. I won't fight. I'll just go with Angel until he is set in all of this again.

Giles breathed hard and looked at Angel. One week later the vampire showed some remarkable changes. He seemed more attentive to the things around him, besides being clean.

- I'll go. It is set. Besides, I went to see you fighting during… well… all this time.

- You… were… there?

- Yes. Look guys, I'm sorry, but I must say you were doing great.

Everyone gave her an exasperated look and went outside. Cemetery it was.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy was hidden behind a tree while the others fought. They found a large nest of vampires, with eight of them and two more rose that night.

Xander and Cordelia didn't come, but Willow was pretty good with a spell to make stakes to float and staked two vampires. Giles used his crossbow to kill three more vampires, while Angel killed the remaining. Maybe He had lost his mind momentarily, but his body remembered how to fight. One of the vampires tried to run and stumbled upon Willow. He tried to bite her, but Angel staked him before the worst.

- Thanks, Angel.

- Willow. Friend.

- Willow is friend.

- Willow is friend.

Buffy left her hidden place and saw the words between her friend and the father of her child.

- Yes!

- Willow, what are doing?

- Buffy, you know me. Academic achievements always get me excited.

- Huh?

- I can teach him to speak properly again.

Angel growled loudly. Buffy looked at him and found he was staring at a tombstone. Teresa's.

- Oh, no! Angel. No!

- Killed. Killed… her. I.

Pain was the main thing in Angel's yellow eyes that flashed due to his anger. He was crying and Buffy tried to grab him by the arm, but he recoiled. He looked at her and walked away from the tombstone, tumbled over his own feet… falling. He got up and ran.

- ANGEL!

- Buffy, calm down. This won't be good for the baby.

- I have to go for him! Willow. He remembered what Angelus did… and he can do something stupid. He told me when he was first cursed… he tried… he tried… to kill himself.

- Oh! Buffy we will find him. Breathe ok! Breathe. Think. Think. Where would he go?

- Well. My home, the mansion and his old apartment. Those are the places I can think off.

- Let's go. My car is in the main entrance of cemetery.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

- MOM!

- What is it?

- Did… did you see Angel?

- No. What…?

Buffy ran to her bedroom, while Willow and Giles stayed behind explaining things to her mother. She found him shivering horribly in her bed.

- Angel. Angel can you hear me.

Buffy's voice was soft and low. He didn't seem to notice her presence. She touched his shoulder and he flinched. When he finally looked at her his face was drenched with tears.

- How you… accept me…?

- Shhhh. I love you. Angel, I love you. We love you.

She held his hand against her belly and their baby moved against it.

- See. He agrees with me.

Angel gave her a weak smile.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

One week later Angel was still brooding. He almost never left Buffy's room, although he had to put up with Willow who insisted into coming to help him to talk properly again. The first day he even grunted to her, but Willow didn't feel fear him. He couldn't smell fear. Besides Buffy, she was the girl that accepted him… as a friend and as Buffy's boyfriend and lover… even after she knew what he was.

Willow made a face to him and he was the one scared, maybe because he still remembered how it was in Hell when he tried to fight what the demons wanted to do to him. Surrender was better. He knew he had to just complain with what the red head wanted.

Two weeks later, Angel was much better with the help of Willow and Buffy, but he still couldn't leave Buffy's house. He got back some memories of taunting Willow, killing her fish and refused her help, but she used her resolved face on him. He talked, he cried, she cried, they embraced and everything was set. Willow left Angel sleeping in Buffy's bed to find the slayer eating something in the kitchen.

- Buffy, are you ok?

- huh? Oh, hi… Willow.

- You seem worried.

- I'm Will. Angel is getting his memory back, but he didn't get the one I fear.

- Jenny.

- Yes. Giles said that when he was grrr and he went to my bedroom to close the curtains Angel seemed to have recognized him. His eyes changed colors from yellow to brown and he seemed to be in agony at seeing Giles. I can't think of what he will do when he find out about it. Maybe he is repressing some memories, but he will notice that Jenny isn't around anymore. He is bound to ask. What if he tries to kill himself?

- Buffy. I won't lie to you. Probably it will hurt him a lot more than Teresa's. You… we have to prepare to deal with it.

- I know.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: Yep! Angel will remember. That is for sure!**

**Stay tuned!**


	8. The proposal

**Yay! A new chapter! I had a lot of trouble to write this chapter because I had two ideas for it. Ended up with this and left the other idea for the next chapter. Someone from "Amends" will make its appearance.**

**Enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Two weeks had passed after Angel's break down over Teresa's. He still brooded, but decided to leave the room to accompany Buffy on patrol with Giles and Willow. Xander still did not appear.

After a fight with two vampires in the graveyard, Buffy smiled at Willow and noticed Giles was silent. He was holding an old piece of paper he found on the floor of the crypt they were in.

- Giles. What is it?

- It is something about the glove of Myneghon. I didn't know it existed for a fact.

- Myneghon. I… I… know where is.

- Angel you know where it is?

He shook his head affirmatively and started to walk. So they just followed him.

- How come these things always find their way to Sunnydale? Glove, Nigerian masks, boxes with pieces of Judges. Damn Hellmouth! Giles, what does this glove thing do?

- It imbues the holder with some kind of power, canalizing energy around it and producing a deadly ray. It can fry one in the spot.

They arrived in the Restfield Cemetery twenty minutes later. Angel went for one crypt, opened one of the coffins to remove a big metallic glove.

- Last time I went near anything with five fingers it almost strangled me. So, I won't go near it. Can we destroy it?

- Yes. I believe. I must consult my books.

Giles and the gang headed for his house… to found a Watcher waiting for them.

- Who are you?

- My name is Gwendolyn Post. I'm a Watcher mister Giles. I came here to investigate some information the Council received about your Slayer.

- Information. What kind of information?

- Pregnancy, mister Giles.

Gwendolyn did not see Buffy because she stayed behind. Angel sensed something odd in the air and held her. They could hear the conversation.

- What?

- The council was informed your slayer is pregnant… and it seems the father is a vampire named Angelus. Why did you fail to inform us of the matter mister Giles?

- I… I…

- Well, mister Giles. I have some other information since I arrived here. You better than anyone should know a slayer is a weapon and for that she can't have a personal life. The Council can't and won't let such an abomination as the son of a vampire and a slayer live. You know they will be destroyed. And what is this?

Angel held Buffy against his body. Nobody would harm his son and his mate.

- Hear Miss Post… Nobody will inform the Council of the matter here. You don't know my slayer… and you surely don't know me. And this is the glove of Myneghon, we will destroy it.

Miss Post looked Giles up and down with some disgust in her face. He didn't care. Nobody would harm her.

- You clearly have a father's love for the child and will be probably discarded. This glove is too powerful and dangerous. It is a pressing matter to destroy it using a living flame.

- Hear Miss Post. I think you should come inside so we discuss the matter in hands. Willow, I need you to get some ingredients for the living frame in the Magic Shop.

- Ok.

Willow crossed Buffy and Angel outside and they all left. Giles was going to try to convince Miss Post for Buffy's sake, but if nothing could be done, Riper would come out to play.

- My slayer is the best weapon The Council will ever had and she…

Giles never finished what he was saying because he was hit from behind. He turned around to look at the woman in front of him with a stunned face.

- Thanks to you I got what I came for…

Giles fainted, but he still could see the woman wearing the glove.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Angel and Buffy were in the kitchen of her house. He was trying to calm her down, while Joyce was hovering over them.

- Angel… you… you heard that woman. They will do something to the baby. I know it. I just…

- Buffy. It is ok! I am here. Nobody will come near you. We can leave here for a while… or forever if you want…

Angel looked through the kitchen windows, suddenly alert.

- Angel. What is it?

- There is something outside.

The phone rang and Joyce attended a frantic Willow.

- Mrs. Summers is Buffy there?

- Yes. Willow, what is it?

- I need to talk to her now… it is urgent.

- Buffy, it is Willow.

Buffy left the safety of Angel's arms to get the phone.

- Willow.

- Buffy. Giles was attacked. The woman took the glove.

Without any warning, Angel lunged to Buffy just a moment before some sort of ray hit her.

- Willow, I think I know where she is.

- She is at your house.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Joyce and came down as soon as she heard the noise, but Buffy screamed for her to stay upstairs.

- God! Angel, she is here!

- I know. I have a plan…

Angel pointed to the glass on the floor.

- … but we need to distract her. Do you think you can do it?

- You bet I can.

Buffy screamed and stood up.

- WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Gwendolyn appeared in front of Buffy's house backyard. She was looking Buffy with hatred in her eyes and when she spoke her voice was full of sarcasm. She was wearing the glove.

- I came for the glove so I'd harvest its power. And you are my first target. I'm going to destroy the abomination you are carrying.

- My baby didn't do anything to you.

- A baby born of a Slayer and a vampire is nothing but the first step in the Apocalypse. You should be the one preventing it… but it seems it became my job.

She pointed the glove to Buffy, but never fired because her arm and the glove was cut off by a glass threw by Angel. The woman screamed and her body burned down in front of them. Buffy's legs gave up, but Angel held her.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

After the night events, Buffy was nervous and tired and she and Angel went to bed. They were dreaming of each other in a field of flowers when they were transported to a white room. There, they found a woman dressed in old Greek clothes, with blue eyes and golden skin.

- Warriors. The hunt has started.

Buffy raised her eyebrows.

- Hunt?

- Yes. Your child is not safe. He is the son of a vampire and a slayer and will be important into creating a new race of slayers with the strain and skills to hunt demons.

- It is a baby boy then?

- Yes. It is.

Angel kissed Buffy's head and made the next question.

- How can he create a new race of slayers? He is a boy, boys can't be slayers.

- No, but his daughter will be the first of a new race. She will have the powers of Slayers and Vampire and will be unstoppable and even if and when she died the next one called will be as strong as her. Your child made possible the vampire powers to be incorporated in the Slayers lineage. That is why they will seek you and try to destroy it.

Buffy hid her face in Angel's chest while trembling. Their son was in danger.

- We can protect the baby. I am stronger and Angel is here.

- Yes, but not forever. They will keep coming and coming and coming until they succeed.

- But… but why now?

- You didn't know, but you and your house are protected by the powers. Since you only left during the day for the child's appointments, no vampire or demon could go near you. Now, you are leaving and they will take any chance they get. The Powers have a way to keep him safe time enough so he'd be able to defend himself.

Angel didn't like the sound of it.

- What is it? What can we do to protect our child?

- Slayer, you and your husband can give the baby to The Powers. He will be taken to a higher plane of existence and be returned to you when he is old enough.

Buffy got frantic in Angel's arms. Her eyes became huge when she heard the proposition.

- WHAT? No! No! No! Not this! I want my baby. I want to see him growing, take pictures of him… of us.

- That is your choice to make.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: I know! I am bad! Buffy and Angel faced with the decision to give up their son! I mean who this woman think she is! How could they believe her?**

**I'll deal with Gwendolyn's in the next chapter.**

**Angel will remember what Angelus did to Jenny… so not pleasant! **

**Faith will appear somewhere along the way… I hope.**

**Stay tuned!**


	9. Reminders

**First of all, many thanks for the reviews! Just for you to know I'm now having this strange idea of jamming all of the seasons of Angel and Buffy along the way****, with my own twists and turns for them. So, maybe it will be a lot longer than what I thought.**

**Second****, back to action again! Let's know what our heroes are doing?**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

The woman disappeared and they woke up searching for the comfort of each other's arms. Buffy was trembling.

- Angel, has you…?

- Yes.

- Who was… was her? Do you think… think she is right? What if all of it was just some lies so would give up our baby…? Angel, what… what are going to do? I don't want to give up our baby.

Buffy was frantic and Angel could feel the fear coming in waves from her.

- I don't know, Buffy. Maybe Giles can help us. All I know is that we will found a way out of it. I… I never thought I'd have any of this. A woman that I love and love me back and a baby. Despite everything I did, I still got a family. My father…

Angel felt his throat closing when the reminders of his father came back to haunt him. He was a big disappointment to the man. His only son, the one supposed to get into a good marriage, with a noble and good woman, give the man grandchildren and take care of him and his business when he'd got old, just turned into the worst of the worst.

- What?

- I don't think he ever thought I'd have all of this when he saw me coming back home every night drunk. I can still hear his words when we had our last fight just hours before I… I got turned. I can still hear him praying just moments before I… I bit him. Now I'm having a son… an important son not only for us, both for the whole world change against demons.

Buffy started to do some circles into Angel's chest. The baby moved at that moment and she took his hand to her belly, so he'd feel him. The baby moved around and stooped under Angel's hand. He stayed there doing little waves in Buffy's belly as if to say to his father he loved him already.

- Angel, can you feel him? I already told you didn't do anything. And I am sure your father is proud of you just because of it. If whoever control fate and destiny thought of us, a slayer and a vampire, mortal enemies, to fall in love and create life as we are doing, who are you to patronize this entire miracle by feeling you are not worth it. I am sure…

Angel's eyes were full of unshed tears and he looked away from Buffy's face to his hand still over her belly with the baby under it.

- Angel, look at me… I'm sure your father and mother and sister are nothing but proud of whom you grow to be. You have a soul; lots of people… real human people have them, and so what? You could have had your soul back and just resume your way of life from before. You could have chosen to go on drinking, chasing women again and even killing, but you didn't. You felt ashamed, terrified of what your demon did and I bet you felt your father was right back there when he didn't wait anything good from you, but you turned around… all the way. You didn't do it, you didn't kill yourself in your first sunset back… thank good… and look where you are now. Don't even think for a moment you are not worth it because that would mean our baby wouldn't be here. I would probably not be here.

Finally, the angel found no more strength against the tears he was holding. For a while, Buffy did nothing but held a sobbing man.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

The next day came and everyone went to see Giles in the hospital. He was in bed with a large bandage on his left temple and turned his head to the door when he heard the knock.

- Hi, Giles.

- Oh, Hello, Buffy, Willow, Angel. You ok?

Giles knew the ex-Watcher went for Buffy.

- Yes. You?

- Well, I'll live. I called the Council. Gwendolyn Post was a former Watcher and she was dismissed for bad use of dark magic. It seems she learned of the glove location and came here to get it, only we got in her way.

- Did they know about the baby?

- No. They didn't know of her whereabouts after her dismissal. It is safe to say she didn't give them any information. You seem nervous. How is the baby?

- It is ok… It's just that a woman told us the baby is not safe.

- A woman?

- Yes. We dreamed and she came to us. She said something called The Powers could protect the baby… if we give the baby to them. They'd take him to another dimension and protect him up to when he can be returned.

- Good God! Buffy! The Powers… are you sure she sad it? How was this woman?

- Yes. Do you… do you know them? Can we trust these Powers? The woman… she had blue eyes and sort of a golden skin, and she was wearing Greek clothes… I think.

- Your description fits what I know of beings called The Oracles. They are some sort of messages for The Powers. Buffy, The Powers That Be are the ones who care for the good in the world. It is said that when Lucifer fell from God's grace and created the first evil, God created The Powers because Lucifer created something that didn't have balance. The Powers are the good side of this balance, while The First evil is the bad side of the balance. Usually, The First tries to turn the balance for his side and The Powers react by intervening in situations that would do just that. In preventing these situations of coming to pass, they keep the balance in equilibrium, but they never create a situation to upset the balance to the good side, because doing so can create a war that would put humans in jeopardy. When demons were created, The Powers also created the first Slayer. They imbued a girl of great heart, mind and courage with the skills to hunt and kill demons. The Slayer was created as their reaction against evil. But I can't understand why they want to protect the baby.

Buffy and Angel exchanged a look and Angel said to him.

- We are having a son.

Willow who kept silent during the conversation squealed when she knew the baby's sex. Buffy had known it, but she never talked to them about it.

- Oh, goody! But, wait a moment… if he is a male, how come these Powers are so interested in him? I mean, are they planning to create male slayers now?

- Yes, Willow. Good question?

- No, he won't be any sort of slayer.

- Then why…?

- Giles, the daughter of our baby will be a slayer. She will have both our powers combined. Can you imagine it? The woman said she will be the first of a new race of slayers because her powers will pass to the other ones. After her, every slayer will have the strengths of vampire as well. Can you imagine it?

- Good god, Buffy! I knew you were quite unique, but to this extension is really remarkable! It also can explain why they want to protect him. He will the target to every evil in the world. They wouldn't allow this child to grow and give the world more powerful slayers.

- Thanks, Giles. They want to keep the baby…

- WHAT?

- They want us to give up the baby so they'd protect him in another dimension. He would be returned to us when… when the time comes. I don't… I don't want to… to give up.. my baby!

Buffy could not speak anymore because she had a fit of tears.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy woke up and looked at Angel. He had an agitated sleep some of the nights after Teresa's, mumbling things she could not understand. The same pattern was seen during the day. Sometimes, he seemed to be in pain… dreaming of hell. She watched his sleep most of it anyway, but when nature called she had to go to the bathroom.

That moment, Angel opened his eyes to see the sun was still out. He was not used to be awake during the day and looked around searching for the voice he heard. He saw Jenny sat in a chair.

- Ms. Calendar. What are you doing here?

Jenny stared at him for a while with raised eyebrows.

- You don't remember, do you?

- Remember. Remember what?

- That you killed me.

She raised eyebrows with satisfaction again when horror stroke Angel's face. He didn't see her around, but he knew she and Giles weren't in the best terms. So, he never asked about her afraid he'd bring bad reminders to the man. He did not remember any of it. He didn't remember she was not there anymore… because he had killed her.

Angel propped on the headboard, pushed his knees to his chest and rocked back and forth while memories flooded his mind.

- No! No! No!

Buffy found Angel frantically running his hand over his hair, rocking back and forth in the bed. Sometimes he would look at the chair in the other side of the room.

- Angel! Angel! What…?

Angel flinched and left the bed to sit far away from Buffy in one of the corner in the room.

- STAY AWAY FROM ME! Monster… monster… I'm… How… can… you… love me? Murder… I'm a murder. Miss… oh God! Giles!

Buffy's eyes grow huge when she finally realized what happened.

- Angel, please! Angel! No! It was not your fault! It was Angelus.

- NO! It was… it was… it was… my fault. She is dead because of me. Blood… so much… hands… my hands… killed… killed so much.

Buffy tried to reach him, but he recoiled again.

- STAY AWAY FROM ME!

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: Yay! The First finally made it to Buffy and Angel's life. It is just his first appearance. So, watch out for more!**

**I'm bending the creation of the Slayers a little because I don't believe anything doing good as Slayers could have a root into dark forces.**


	10. Good bye

**Thank you for the reviews! Here goes another chapter of my Angel and Buffy show! **

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy backed away from the bed when Angel screamed at her. He was beyond despair and sat in the corner of her room. She tried to approach him, but he whimpered and she backed away again.

- Buffy, what was that?

- Nothing… nothing, mom. Angel just remembered… He remembered something more.

Joyce looked franticly from her daughter to Angel in the corner of the room and back to her daughter.

- Are you ok? Is he ok?

- I'm all right. He will be ok, mom. Can… can you leave us alone?

- Are you sure?

- Yes.

- If you need anything just call.

- k.

When Joyce closed the door behind her, Buffy turned to Angel.

- Angel, please! Listen to me… you didn't do anything wrong. It was not your fault…

His only answer was to shake his head violently and look at his hand. He had snapped Jenny Calendar's neck and took her to Giles's house for him to find out.

- Angel! Please!

He shook his head violently again, but didn't look at her. At that moment, the baby kicked hard. She held the lower part of her belly and sat in the bed.

- Wow!

That seemed to bring Angel out of his trance. He didn't say anything and didn't look at her, but held her hand when she whimpered in pain.

- I'm…

- Shshshs. You… you have to rest.

- Angel.

- No. I don't… don't want to talk.

Angel squeezed Buffy's hand and helped her to lie down in bed.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Angel sat in the corner of the room again just looking at the sleeping slayer. He was weighing his options. Maybe leaving was the best he could do. How could Giles stand him? How could he have defended him to Xander when he first came back?

- Trouble in Wonderland?

Angel looked to the chair in the other side of the bed to see Jenny sat there looking at him.

- Jenny? No… no… you can't be her. What are you? You are not her. You aren't here.

- I'm always here.

- I don't know what you are, but leave me alone.

- I can't you know. I wanted to die in bed surrounded by fat grandchildren, but guess that's off the menu.

Angel turned down his head before he could give her an answer.

- I'm sorry.

- You're sorry? For me? Don't bother. I'm dead. I'm over it. I'm here to show you who you are. Didn't you question why you were brought back?

- Y-y-yes.

- Do you want to find out?

- Y-y-yes.

- You will. Now you have to sleep and rest.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

_Angel was__ dreaming. Buffy was lying in her bed, and she slowly opened her eyes. Angel was sitting at her side, looking down at her, waiting for her to awaken. He reached for Buffy's hand with his. They touched fingertips briefly before intertwining their fingers and clasping hands._

_Next Buffy wa__s facing Angel, sitting on his lap with her legs circling round his waist. They were kissing passionately, holding each other as closely as possible, and caressing each other tenderly. Buffy tugged at Angel's shirt, and he helped her pull it up and off, baring his chest. _

_Angel slipped the satin pajama top from Buffy's shoulders. They held each other tightly as they kissed longer and more intensely. They lay in bed together, making gentle passionate love. They changed positions as Angel rolled on top of her, the muscles of his back flexing under his tattoo. They caressed each other for several moments. Angel tenderly kissed Buffy where her neck joined her shoulder, and he slid his hand up and along her outstretched arm, reaching and clasping her hand as they continued making love. _

_Suddenly, Angel removed his hands from their tender clasp and then, as a thunderclap was heard, grabbed Buffy's wrists hard, forcibly pinning her down to the bed. He rose over her and transformed into his vampire guise to bite her savagely on the neck. When he was finished he just threw her in the bed like she was a ragged doll and left it still naked. He went to the crib, got his son and drank him too._

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Angel awoke with a bolt and realized he was still on the floor. He tried to scream, but his horror was so intense he couldn't. His unneeded breath was heavy and he looked at Buffy who was still sleeping. He turned around to see Jenny at the door.

- Now you know how you are here.

- No! No! No! I won't hurt her.

He whispered in agony.

- Yes. You will. You can't repress yourself forever. One day, you will obey your destiny. You were born for that and as long as you are alive…

- Then I'll die.

Jenny shot him a look of panic. This was not the plan. The slayer should die for the plans to work. The vampire was just perfect for the job. Well, someone could be found to do the job anyway.

- You don't have the strength…

- I don't need strength. I just need the sun to rise.

Angel grabbed a pen and wrote to her. He looked one more time to Buffy and left the room through the window.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

_Buffy was dreaming. She was standing in __the hills behind his mansion and they were fighting. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but she saw the exact moment the first rays of sun appeared in the horizon. She saw herself trying to push Angel to safety, but he didn't want to, it seemed. In minutes, he was nothing but ashes._

Buffy bolted from her back and looked frantically around her room… to not see Angel. Near her pillow he saw his letter.

"_Buffy, I love you. __You won't see me again. I won't come back from death this time. She showed me why I was brought back… to hurt you. To kill you and my son… and that I can't do. I do prefer to die. I want you to take care of our son. Tell him I love him. Tell him I did what I'm going to do to keep you all safe. Good bye. Angel"_

- Oh, God! Oh, God! Please… Angel. Don't do anything stupid.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: ****I'm bending The First story a little, but they will know what they are up against. **


	11. Two births

**Finally, I could post a new chapter on**** my Angel and Buffy show! **

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"Buffy, my God! What happened? Where are you going?"

Joyce woke in the middle of the night to get some water. She almost collided with her daughter in the stairs. She was staring at the Buffy's distressed face. She also realized her daughter was dressed.

"It's Angel, mom! He… He left a note. He is going to do… he is going to… HE IS GOING TO KILL HIMSELF, MOM! HE IS GOING TO WALK IN THE SUN! I… I have to do something. I have… have to go."

Joyce held her almost nine month pregnant and desperate daughter by the shoulders to avoid her to leave the house.

"Buffy, you can't go outside like this. The baby…"

"You don't understand… I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING."

Buffy tried to release herself of her mother's grasp, but without success. Joyce helped Buffy down stairs and she sat in the couch eyeing the door for a moment, but she knew she could not make a run for it in her state. She was feeling strange all day, with some back pain, which she thought was due to the baby moving in her belly.

"Buffy, please… Calm down. This will not do any good to you or the baby. Let me… let me call Mr. Giles. I am sure we can help. You don't even know where he is!"

"I… I know. I dreamed about it… he turned to… he turned to ashes."

Buffy was shaking and tears were coming down in cascades over her face. Joyce wanted nothing more than keep her daughter safe, but right now, she had to do something instead of just hugging her. Her daughter was happy with Angel around and she would do anything to keep it that way. She knew her daughter would not survive to lose her vampire, her lover, the father of her baby again.

"Buffy, it is three in the morning. We have time before the sunrise. Let me call Giles."

And so, Joyce did.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

While Joyce was away in the kitchen Buffy was thinking of what to do. She could not lose Angel again. He was not only her lover and the father of her baby or the sweetest person she ever knew. She admired him for who he was, with Angelus and everything. He could have killed himself when his soul was returned, but he did not. Despite the memories of what Angelus did, he decided to go on. To carry on that burden. She was sure he had so much to give to this world. She knew, she just knew, that he was mean to be here to make amends, to save the world from its destruction. To save her. Everything was mean to be. He was supposed to be here, they were supposed to be like this. Nobody would separate them again. They were stronger together.

"_You have to save him"_

Buffy looked around, but did not see anything.

"_Save him or the world will perish"_

"What hell? Who… who is here? Who is talking?"

Joyce appeared in the room again**.**

"Buffy, what is it?"

"Nothing. I just… I thought I heard something."

"Mr. Giles is coming. Please, calm down. We have time to solve the problem before the worst happen."

Buffy looked at her mother with eyes full of unshed tears that made Joyce ask for the million time that night why all of this was happening to her daughter.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"Come on! The sun…"

Giles and Joyce were helping Buffy arrive at the highest part of the hill behind Angel's mansion. Buffy was breathing with difficulty. She gasped for air and held her belly.

"Buffy. What is it? Are you ok? Are you feeling something?"

"No, mom. I… I am ok. I think it is just the weight."

Buffy pointed to her belly. She was lying to them because she was sure her son was coming out. Her back was hurting, but she had to try to hold it to save Angel of himself.

Finally, they arrived at the hilltop. Her Angel was standing in the near end of it.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"Angel"

Buffy called Angel with a soft voice. He heard her say his name, but did not glance in her direction. Buffy slowly walked over to him, while Giles and Joyce stood behind.

"I bet half the kids down there are already awake. Lying in their beds... sneaking downstairs... waiting for the day.

"Angel, please. I… we need for you to get inside."

Buffy was trembling and out of breath, anxiety coming out of her in waves, her breath coming in rasps moves. Angel spoke again, but did not turn to her.

"I can smell the sunrise long before it comes. It will be over soon"

"Angel. I do not know what is happening. Why are you doing this?"

"She showed me."

"Who? Showed you what?"

"Jenny"

"Jenny? Angel, Jenny… Jenny is not here anymore."

"No. She is around. She showed why I was brought back."

Comprehension came to Buffy.

"Angel. Something… something was haunting you back at my home, wasn't? Angel. Please! Just… just come with me. Let's go inside the mansion. I do not have time to explain this. You just have to trust me. Whatever lies whatever was telling you, they are not true. Please believe me!"

"I can't do it again, Buffy. I cannot become a killer. If… if I am not here I can't hurt you or our baby."

"Was it what this thing told you?"

"Jenny…"

"Oh, Angel, please! It is not Jenny… Jenny… Jenny would never do anything like that to you, Angel! She… she changed the curse so your soul could not be taken from you, from us again, Angel! Angel! Please, don't… don't leave some great evil take credit for bringing you back. Fight it!"

"It's too hard."

Buffy was more and more anxious and getting desperate. Angel wouldn't look at her and time was passing.

"She told me to kill you. She told me to drink from you, to lose my soul in you and become a monster again. She showed I'd kill my own son… MY OWN SON!"

"It can't be done. Jenny saw to it never happen again."

"AND SHE PAID WITH HER LIFE!"

Angel anger at his demon actions could be felt in his screams in the silent Sunnydale's night. Finally, he came undone. His sobs could be heard and Buffy just looked at him at a momentary loss for words.

"The soul is not supposed to be here. It can be taken again, if not by happiness, then by magic or any other mean any of the enemies could find to do it. Look, Buffy. I'm weak. I've never been anything else. It's not the demon in me that needs killing, Buffy. It's the man."

"You're weak. Everybody is. Everybody fails. This Evil did not bring you back, I know that. He is just using you to get to me because it knows now that you are here nothing can hurt me. We are strong together. That also means that you can hurt it."

Buffy was feeling too much pain in her back.

"Angel, please! Then sun is coming up!"

"Just go away. I don't want you here when it happens"

"Angel, you have the power to do real good, to make amends, but if you die now, then all that you ever were was a monster. I won't go away!

"What? Do you think this is simple? You think there's an easy answer? You can never understand what I've done! Now go! I said LEAVE!

"No!"

Finally, Angel turned around. He was vamped out and baring his fangs for her to see.

"Look at me, Buffy! LOOK AT ME! Am I a thing worth saving? Am I a righteous man? The world wants me gone!"

Buffy was openly crying. She walked towards Angel and he gave some steps back. When she reached him, she touched his face. Angel leaned into her touch and closed his eyes for a moment.

"What about me? What about us?"

Buffy grabbed his hand and put it over her belly.

"I love you so much... And I tried to make you go away... I killed you and it didn't help. And I hate it! I hate that it's _so_ hard... and that you can hurt me _so_ much."

She sobbed too and spoke to him harshly.

"I know everything that you did, because you did it to me. Oh, God! I wish that I wished you dead. I don't. I can't."

"Buffy, please. Just this once... let me be strong."

"Strong is fighting! It's hard, and it's painful, and it's every day. It's what we have to do. And we can do it together."

Angel was struggling with himself now. Was she right? Unnoticed by them, small snowflakes just came out of nowhere.

"If… if you're too much of a coward for that, then burn. If I… if our son can't convince you that you belong in this world, then I don't know what can. But do _not_ expect me to watch. And _don't_ expect me to mourn for you, because..."

Buffy stopped in mid-sentence because it suddenly and inexplicably begun to snow. She and Angel both looked up and them at each other. The snow that started lightly increased. For the first time that night, Buffy and Angel smiled. Buffy was just looking at an amazed Angel who couldn't take his eyes of the sky.

"Wow!"

Buffy contorted in some pain. Angel ran to her and held her hand at the same time that a crying Joyce embraced with Giles approached them. Buffy looked at Angel with a small smile.

"I think it's time."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: They will find out what they are up against.**


	12. Delivery

**Here comes BA baby! Let's see!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

The nurse in the main emergence room of Sunnydale hospital was in action immediately after a man came rushing through the main door carrying a pregnant woman. Unknown to them a fast light covered the whole building for a while.

"Angel, I hate you!"

The nurse smiled when she heard the woman scream. Probably first baby of the couple. She got a wheelchair and the man put the woman in it.

"This is too painful! I'm going to kill you… Mom, bring me a stake!"

"Buffy!"

Joyce admonished her daughter, while Angel gave a step back from Buffy when she tried to grab his duster necklace. The nurse looked from the young to the old couple with curious looks. That was the strangest pain talk she had ever heard a woman say during labor. She looked at Angel who seemed paler and then grabbed his arm.

"Is it your fist child?"

Angel just nodded. Seeing Buffy in pain was killing him. Now he understood why a man was not allowed to be near his wife while she gave birth back at his time as a human being. Fear crept in his heart for his family fate. When Buffy saw the nurse touching her man she tried to lunge at the woman.

"And you get your paws of my husband?"

"Buffy!"

"No Buffy me! What do you think? You didn't leave me for the sun and is now planning to leave me and our son for another woman! Older than me! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH ON YOURSELF?"

The nurse just smiled and turned to Angel again.

"Don't worry. It is the labor pain. All women say something they don't mean."

"Oh I mean it… I mean every word. Wow!"

Buffy screamed as other contraction ripped through her body.

"Oh God! How could you do this to me? It was my first fucking time! You are not supposed to impregnate me… or anyone for that matter!"

The nurse was pushing her wheelchair to get her to a room, while Joyce and Giles stayed behind to take care of her admission papers and call her doctor and friends.

"You can come with her if you want?"

Buffy grabbed the hand of the nurse and held it… a little too tight. She smiled sweetly to the nurse who tried to release her hand from her grasp.

"So you can keep… DROOLING OVER HIM... BITCH?"

"BUFFY, STOP IT!"

Angel tickled Buffy and she released the nurse's hand. He looked apologetically to the woman.

"I'm sorry. I'll carry her. Just point the room."

The nurse just nodded while holding her hand. She would certainly not look at the husband. The wife was completely insane. When they arrived at the room, Angel helped Buffy to the bed and just when she sat another contraction passed through her again. She promptly held Angel's duster necklace and pulled his face near her.

"If you… soul or no soul… Ever. Touch. Me. Again. I'll stake you and sleep really wonderfully."

"Ok. Please, baby. Just lay down now."

She laid down while Angel held and kissed her hand. After five minutes, another contraction hit her. She cried.

"You are not supposed… supposed to impregnate me… how could you do it? I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. You won't ever be near me! You can sleep in that mansion of yours…alone, of course… but far away from me!"

"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't know. If I could, I'd feel your pain.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Contractions were getting nearer and Angel's hands more and more sore. Buffy's doctor finally arrived and she was carried to the delivery room where Angel was allowed to stay. He would never forget that experience.

Finally, their son came out to the world. He was a little baby with green eyes like his mother and a small amount of brown hair in his head. Buffy was transferred to a new room and, despite her fatigue, she could do nothing but stare at their baby. Buffy and Angel smiled at each other amazed with their son.

Suddenly, the room brightened and the female Oracle appeared in front of them.

"Warriors."

Buffy was the first to realize what was going to happen and her eyes just widened. Joyce, Giles, Willow, Xander, and Cordelia just came running into the room, stopping in their tracks as they saw the gold woman standing before them.

"Dear Lord! An Oracle."

The Female Oracle looked at Giles and smiled. Then, she turned around to the couple feeling sad for them. Such strong warriors who would have to go to so much more.

"It's time."

"Now? No, no, no… he is just a little baby. You… you can't take him, not now. I didn't even feed him yet. Please! Leave us have him a little more."

"There is no time."

Everyone in the room had tears in their eyes. Buffy held Angel's duster and cried against him who just supported his family. He couldn't do it. Give away their newborn children. Giles was the first one to talk.

"Buffy. There are many demons outside. I do not know why they are not coming in, but they are waiting."

"We cast a protection over the building. Only normal human who really need medical attention will get in, although I do not think any of them will come near the building."

Buffy and Angel were oblivious to everything. They just kept gazing at their little boy and each other.

"What are we going to do, Angel?"

Angel looked at The Oracle.

"There is no other way to protect him?"

"No. The Thing you were seeing before was not your dear friend. It is called The First and it wants to destroy the three of you because you are the things standing in its way to give back the world to demons. Your son, due to his inheritance to the slayer lineage, will be the main target… and they will get over you to get to him. The First will sent demon after demon against you and you are mortal. Yes, you have powers that no human dream off, but both of are still mortal."

Buffy recovered her voice enough to voice her fears.

"How are we supposed to go on knowing what we had? What we could have? I won't just forget my son."

The Oracle again gave the couple a look of sympathy and sadness.

"You will."

"WHAT?"

"Everyone will forget your baby was ever born."

Angel wept against Buffy's hair while she held the baby near them. Buffy went into panic mode, frantically looking from the woman to the baby.

"No, no, no… It did! It did! I know it did! He even has a heartbeat! We can feel his heart beating!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry. You don't know what sorry is! Why these damn Powers allowed him to be if it was just for him to go away? WHY?"

"Because everything shall come to pass."

"Shall come to pass my ass!"

The Oracle didn't flinch at Buffy's angry outburst. She could feel the fear and sadness coming from the couple. The vampire couldn't speak anymore. He just cried silently and brushed his finger over the baby cheeks who just grabbed his father.

"There is no time anymore. Make you decision."

Buffy and Angel looked at each other and realized in their heart that the baby would not be safe in the world. Even if they gave him away, he would be still sought after. Slowly, Buffy gave the baby to the woman. Joyce was weeping against Giles shoulder and Oz was holding Willow and Cordelia.

"The Powers can assure you that he will be safe and cared for."

Buffy was cradled against Angel's chest and both of them wept loudly. They just nodded, but didn't dare to look at the woman or their baby.

"Someone is coming. An ally or an enemy. Help or danger. Both of you can help for the good or the bad to happen."

The couple just nodded.

"What were you planning to call him?"

"Co… nnor... Connor. His name would be Connor."

"Well. Then, that will be how he will be called while in The Powers realm."

Then, the room was bright again and the woman disappeared.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: They find out what The First is. Believe me! It will appear again. Who is coming that can be danger or help? **

**There is some lines of a certain episode here. Doesn't mean the said episode won't come to pass.  
**


	13. Have Faith

**Sorry for the lo****oooooooooooooooonnnnnnng delay! I hope this chapter will make up for it. **

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

A Sunnydale cemetery at night. Hands came out of the freshly filled grave of Andrew Hoelich's. It had clawed for solid ground. Andrew pulled himself out of his grave slowly, his face contorted in the one of a newly made vampire. He growled when he cleared the

earth of his head, and continued to climb out on his stomach. He crawled along the ground, pulled out his legs, but stopped when he saw a pair of widespread legs standing before him. Then, he looked up to see its owner.

"That's right, Big Boy."

Buffy stood over the vampire and smiled mischievously.

"Come and get it."

The vampire suddenly hopped to his feet and roared at Buffy.

"You!"

"Yeah yeah yeah… that's me. Little blonde. Vampire slayer."

Andrew took two steps towards Buffy who just kicked him by the middle section to throw him across the graveyard right under Angel's feet. He grabbed the vampire by the collar and pulled him up, but the vampire kicked Angel hard and he lost his balance releasing the vampire who ran away, dodging Buffy.

"Honey, you ok?"

Angel nodded he was well. Buffy didn't move from her place to help Angel. She just turned around, held her stake by the tip, and threw it just like you would throw a knife. It whistled through the air as it flew end over end to stop in the back of the vampire… right in his heart.

"Nice one!"

"Yay me!"

Angel leaned to kiss Buffy as Willow and Oz appeared behind them.

"Hey, Buffy. That was great."

"I did good, didn't I?"

"Yep. How about we go to the Bronze now? Oz band is scheduled to play in one hour just after Darling Violetta."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Inside The Bronze, Darling Violetta was playing. In the dance floor couples danced to the music, one of them going for it really energetically. Buffy just leaned against Angel while they were sat in a loveseat in a sort of alcove inside de dance club, which had also a couple of armchairs, tables and a lamp with a pink shade. Willow and Oz were among the dancing couples.

"Why are you smiling?"

Buffy looked at Angel and kissed him softly on the mouth.

"Just happy. I have you. It is my last year at school."

"Buffy, you know education is an important…"

"I know… mom! Can't a girl dream? Well… there won't be any more Snyder after this year. I have my friends…"

Buffy scrunched her face in the mention of friends.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"I… yes. I just wish things could be different."

"Buffy, as long as I don't like Xander…"

"And why is that?"

"You know why. As long as that is true, he has every right to be upset with me after… after everything I did."

"You didn't do anything! And no, Angel, he is not right. Even Giles accepted it was not you and he was the one that… that…"

"Lost the most?"

"Yes. Xander is just using… using Jenny as an excuse to hate you… more."

The couple was interrupted by Willow and Oz. Willow smiled at her friends and sat down, while Oz went to get her some beverage. Angel got a glimpse of a couple energetically dancing on the floor in what was unmistakable 70's disco, which had nothing to do with the music actually playing. The couple went outside. Buffy followed Angel's eyes.

"I don't think that guy thrives on sunshine."

Buffy looked at Angel and then back to the couple.

"Well… by the way… old way… they are dancing."

Angel quickly raised and went after the couple, with Buffy just behind him. Outside, Angel looked around, while Buffy held her stake.

"Where'd they go?"

Angel turned towards a nearby alley because of noises he picked out. That was when they heard a girl calling out in a complaining tone.

"Hey!"

They heard a loud noise, as though something was broken. Both Angel and Buffy ran to the alley to find the girl up against a fence.

"Stop struggling. This won't hurt."

The girl just gave a smart laugh.

"No. It really won't."

Before Angel and Buffy could do anything, the girl grabbed the vampire by the neck, pushed him away, and elbowed him in the face. While the vampire tried to regain his balance, the girl jumped a crate, did a roundhouse kick, and knocked him to the pavement. Then, she turned and looked at Angel and Buffy who were astonished.

"It's okay, I got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right?"

The vampire came up behind the girl and grabbed her by the shoulders. She head butted and grabbed his arm.

"Hi. The name is Faith by the way."

She twisted the vampire around, shoved him into the fence, and kneed him in the gut. She walked towards Buffy and grabbed her stake.

"Can I borrow that?"

She turned around, pressed the vampire against the fence, and staked him. The vampire instantly crumbled into ashes. Buffy and Angel were still looking at Faith in confused amazement. She just faced Buffy and handed back her stake.

"Thanks, B. Couldn't have done it without you. Can we bronze?"

Faith just walked past Buffy and gave a flirtatious smile to Angel, while Buffy turned to stare after her, unsure of how to react.

"It is safe to say we found Kendra's replacement."

Buffy looked at Angel and smiled weakly.

"You think?"

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: **

**- **Well, there was a vampire near them. So, Angel surely would be the first one to notice that. I know one… or rather two… elements of the original scene are missing here, but I will bring them back.

- They just forgot about everything baby related. So, normal life for now.

- Do you want to know what happened to baby Connor? It will be addressed… sometime ahead.

- Well, Faith was a lot less experienced then Buffy and… let's face it… Angel is a hell of a hunk… so she would get lust enough after him first and only later would realize something was "off" about him.


	14. Kakistos

**I wrote, rewrote, ****rerewrote this chapter a lot. I had so many ideas going, but finally I could put them all in place. I wanted to include some hot stuff for our favorite couple, but couldn't find the right place/time yet. Both don't fear, lots of smoochies are coming. Curse free Angel, remember!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy sat holding Angel's hand while Faith spoke of her adventures. She looked at him and had a pang of jealousy when she saw the way he was looking at the new slayer, although she mistook his attentions.

"So, where are you staying?"

"In a motel near a DoubleMeat Place, B."

"Well. Where is you watcher?"

"The Watchers had some sort of meeting. Don't know much about. So, I decided to come here and meet famous Buffy. Cross notes."

Buffy gave a small smile and looked at Angel. She tensed yet again with the way he was looking at the new slayer. It seemed Faith had won all of her friends and her boyfriend.

"Am I famous?"

"Oh, yeah, B! Rebourn slayer and all that. So, how are things around this place?"

"You know. Hellmouth. Lots of vampires and other beasts to kill."

"Then, we will rock this shit! How come you are all social?"

Faith looked appreciatively at Angel and turned to Willow and Oz.

"Don't take it bad, but my watcher said boyfriends and friends were not part of the job description."

"Yeah. I bend the rules from time to time."

Buffy was about to say something more when suddenly Angel got up.

"Let's dance."

"Ok."

"Go B! Check out the lust bunnies!"

Angel ignored Faith's remark and took Buffy to the dance floor.

"What is it?"

"Huh?"

"It is Faith, isn't?"

Angel looked at Buffy.

"You know sometimes I don't like the fact I can't keep a secret from you."

"Look, Angel. I… I saw the way you were looking at her and…"

Angel grinned when he realized what she was thinking. He just shook his head amazed that Buffy was unsure of his feelings for her. Buffy smiled when Angel cradled her face in his hands and then kissed her.

"Buffy, it is not that… and I am offended you would think I'd prefer another slayer to you. I am a man of one slayer only."

He declared solemnly.

"Then, what is it?... Hey… I am the said Slayer, am I?"

Angel leaned and kissed her again.

"Yes. You are. It is just… something is not right in this picture. I was… was looking because she smells of someone I know."

"Ewwww…This smelly thing is just gross."

"Yeah, but it comes in hand."

"It does."

"So, who is this person you know?"

"A vampire named Kakistos?"

"And?"

"He is old, much older than me. He doesn't even look human anymore. I am just curious to know why and how his scent is in Faith. She doesn't seem quite right. I just… there is something wrong with her"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I can't place it exactly. Just watch her."

"Ok, Mr. Cryptic."

Buffy gave him a look.

"What?"

"What about you being a vampire? Don't you think we have to tell her?"

"Maybe. But let's wait to talk with Giles tomorrow. Besides, she didn't feel me."

"That's true and now I ask myself why that is."

"She is younger than you and it seems she is not that well trained. She seems the one who fights with instincts, and they are not always good counselors."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

They spent most of the night listening to Faith's adventures. Angel didn't miss the fact that Faith avoided to talk about her watcher. He wanted to ask about Kakistos, but he couldn't do so without giving away something about himself. So, he just paid attention to her voice and heartbeats to know more her level of stress at some points during their conversation.

They had just got outside when they found no less than ten vampires waiting for them.

"Faith!"

Faith froze into place. She had just come out of the bronze behind Angel and Buffy and in front of Willow and Oz when she heard that voice. She looked up to see the reason of her nightmares. Kakistos.

"Angelus… Angelus? What a surprise"

Angel put Buffy protectively behind him before addressing Kakistos. He spoke among gritted teeth.

"Name is Angel now. What are doing here, Kakistos?"

"Well. I came to get that bitch!"

Kakistos pointed Faith who was still frozen in place.

"Why?"

Angel could feel and smell Faith's fear coming in waves behind him. He wondered what circumstances put the old vampire in front of him and the younger slayer together.

"Well. I see you got your meals of the day, but she is mine."

Kakistos stared at Faith, who was trembling, but hearing attentively to the conversation. He spoke with a sadistic pleasure.

"I want to drink her heart blood, you know… as I did with her Watcher."

Buffy turned to look at Faith. When she realized the other slayer was in no shape to fight she got to Angel's side in her fight stance.

"Well. Then, you will have to go through us."

The old vampire laughed cruelly.

"What a petit thing we have here. I think I am going to drink you."

Angel vamped out and growled at Kakistos who peered him with curious eyes.

"So. It's true what they say about you? This must Buffy. The famous slayer. The one raised from death. You disgust all of us. Fighting with the enemy. No fear, my friend. I'd like to drink these people you are protecting, but I want Faith first and you know me well enough to know I'll get her. This is just not the right time."

With that Kakistos just bowed and left, the vampires behind him following. Buffy grabbed her stake to throw at him from behind, but Angel held her arm.

"Don't. We will need something bigger to use."

They turned around to look at Faith. She looked from Buffy to Angel.

"You are a vampire?"

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: ****A new chapter is almost ready. So, I'll be posting it tomorrow. Stay tuned.**


	15. Losing Faith

**Hey, all! Thanks for the reviews as always. ****Here it is! A new chapter! I am working in the updates of my other stories, but this just kept nagging at me to be written. **

**Enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Faith's eyes bulged while she looked from Angel to Buffy.

"No no no NO! This is a trap. You are all vampires!"

She ran.

"Faith, no!"

Buffy tried to go after her, but Angel held her arm. She looked frantically from the alley where Faith had turned to her friends.

"We have to get to her. What if she runs into the ugly vampire with the funny name? Will…"

"Go Buffy, I'm with Oz, I'll be ok."

Buffy and Angel ran after the other slayer.

"She is not far. Her scent is too strong."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Faith ran four blocks before she realized neither Angel nor Buffy where after her. She was shocked that she didn't feel Angel and Buffy were vampires. She couldn't believe the famous Buffy had become a vampire. The turn was probably recent and the council probably didn't know. Was her Watcher already dead?

Then she realized it could not be, Kakistos had said Buffy was the famous slayer, the one who came back from death. Faith remembered that when she got the stake from Buffy she didn't feel the no temperature, which was usual for a vampire.

She was confused. If Buffy was alive, why was she protecting Angel? More importantly, why was Angel protecting her? She could not have mistake the rage coming from the vampire when Kakistos menaced the other slayer. It was confusing.

Faith decided to go back to her place in the old motel and cut her way though some small alleys. She was so distracted that before she knew it her head was jerked back by a hand and she was face-to-face with a vampire.

"Look what we have here… Faith..."

The vampire known as Mr. Trick sniggered and breathed hard against the slayer neck, while other vampires were holding her legs and arms. Faith tried to release herself, but couldn't do anything more than shack her members.

"Get off me!"

Mr. Trick laughed.

"You know, Faith. When the words got around the blonde slayer was killed, the demon community got wild with the prospect of finding all the ones that could be chosen and killing them all before they could be trained, before the chosen one could be… chosen. "

Mr. Trick sniggered.

"So, if the chosen one is not here to be chosen, what would happen to the slayer lineage? Great question, huh? We couldn't do it all yet, but I will be honored to finish you off."

Faith tried to win more time.

"How can you be so sure a new slayer won't be activated?"

"We aren't, but it is all worth a try, isn't. By the way… we have several someones to kill the little blonde pestilence because she doesn't carry the line anymore. She doesn't matter.

Mr. Trick leaned to bite Faith.

"You can't do it… Kakistos…"

"Kakistos… ha! I am the one that found you. I am the one to destroy you."

And he leaned again. Faith tried to win more time and could have prayed to God if she knew how so someone would appear to save her life.

"He will kill you… or anyone that kills me before him… remember… I gave him the cut."

Mr. Trick turned yellow eyes to Faith and seemed to think for a moment, but without another word, he bit Faith.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"Hey! Oh… I'm sorry. Am I crashing into your party?"

Mr. Trick turned to see Buffy and Angel standing in front of him.

"Slayer."

"Yeah. That would be me. How are you? It will be nice to present you to Mr. Pointy."

Faith was not that weakened because Trick had just bit her. She used the moment of his distraction to push the vampire off her and tried to run, but her legs gave up on her. When she realized what was happening, Angel was standing in front of her fighting three vampires, while Buffy was fighting Mr. Trick and two others. Faith grabbed her stake, which had fallen on the floor during her struggles with the vampires and threw it, dusting one of the vampires fighting Angel. He turned to her in his vamp face.

"Thanks."

"Five by five."

Mr. Trick realized his chances were at odds when the two remaining vampires where dusted by Buffy and Angel. He jumped into some craters to go to a higher window in a building.

"I'll see you soon, Slayer"

He disappeared. Angel held Buffy and touched her face, pushing some of her hair behind her ears.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

Unknown to the couple, Faith looked enviously to them. They turned to her.

"You ok?"

Faith shrugged.

"Part of the job, I guess. Can someone explain to me what fuck is happening here?.. . And aren't you hungry?"

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Giles was reading a book when he heard a knock at his door. He opened it to find Buffy, Angel and Faith standing at his door.

"Buffy, something happened?"

"Yes."

She turned to Faith.

"Giles, this is Faith. Faith, this is Giles, my Watcher."

The trio entered Giles apartment.

"Buffy, I don't think…"

"Giles this is Kendra's replacement."

"Oh."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN.: ****Next chapter. Smoochies! Really hard ones… so… **

**Go read the next chapter!**


	16. Mending wounds

**Here it is! Some **_**really**_** hard smoochies. So, if you don't like, don't read it!**

**Enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"So. Angel champ here is a good vampire. Buffy dates him. The red is a witch and her guy is a werewolf? Geez… it is weird."

"Yes. Faith. I guess tomorrow we will have to call the council to talk about your situation. However, right now Kakistos is our main priority."

"Look, old man. I just want to lay down. I'll go back to the hotel and tomorrow we can sort this all out."

Faith stood up and walked to the door. She had just grabbed the handle when she heard Angel.

"You can't go to the hotel."

"And who says I can't?"

"I… a hotel room is a public place. A vampire could get inside easily."

Everyone was looking to Faith who had yet to turn to them. She was still clutching the door handle. When she spoke again, her voice was strained.

"You don't know me, you don't know what I've been through. I'll take care of it."

"What happened with Ka…"

And a realization hit Buffy.

"He killed your watcher, didn't he?"

Faith had opened the door when Buffy threw that question at her.

"Faith talk to me. I know how it is to… to lose someone I care about. I… my first Watcher, Merrick, died at a vampire's hand so I would live to tell the tale."

Finally, Faith dropped the tough girl act and looked back into the room. There were unshed tears in her eyes.

"They don't have a word for what he did to her."

She held her hair in despair and looked intensely to a point nobody could see.

"I was there when he killed my watcher. I saw what he did to her, what he was going to do to me... I tried to stop him, but I couldn't...I ran..."

"Faith, listen to me. First rule of slaying: don't die. You did the right thing, you didn't die. Now do the math: one of him, two of us... Faith, you run, he runs after."

Giles decided to intervene because Faith seemed ready to run again and she could be caught by any vampire.

"Faith. You can stay here for the night. Tomorrow morning we can discuss your situation. Buffy and Angel, you better go home. Tomorrow we meet at the library, Buffy."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy and Angel made their way back to Buffy's house slowly. The shortcut through one of the many Sunnydale cemeteries was uneventful. Neither Angel nor Buffy wanted to talk of the night's events, but Buffy was shaken because she was forced to remember what happened to her first watcher.

"You ok?"

"After… after hearing that happened to Faith's watcher, I just realized it is unnatural."

"What is unnatural?"

"Slayers burying Watchers. Slayers grieving over dead Watchers. It should be the other way around."

They stopped and Angel embraced Buffy, who buried her face in the comfort of his chest.

"Don't say that!"

"Angel."

"No Buffy. I saw you dead in that pool of water so long ago. It is not something I want to see ever again. I will not allow that to happen. "

Buffy smiled at Angel's protectiveness.

"I'm sorry. I wish I was there to help your Watcher that night."

"Angel, I know."

Buffy looked up and Angel leaned in to kiss her. He wanted to comfort her at first, but when passion took over and the kiss grew more passionate, Angel lifted Buffy without even knowing it and sat her in a nearby tombstone. Buffy moaned against his mouth when he released it for a moment and threw her legs around his waist. In his hunger, Angel ripped Buffy's blouse and bra and took one nipple into his mouth. Taken over by his passion, he then fastened Buffy's panties under the skirt she was wearing and touched her engorged flesh. She was damp, wet for him, and still kissed him hungrily.

"Angel, please!"

"Please what?"

"I want you inside of me… hard… fast."

To Buffy's frustration, Angel found enough control to hold his passion for a moment.

"Buffy. I want you, but…"

Buffy kissed him.

"No buts…"

"Buffy, we are in the middle of a cemetery… "

"You don't want me?"

Angel kissed Buffy hard on the lips and grabbed her hand so she'd touch him over his jeans.

"Do you really think I do not want you?"

"I guess you do…"

She squeezed him hard and Angel moaned loudly in the night. He struggled to hold his demon back and breathed hard against her neck.

"I want to make love to you properly in a bed. I want to cherish you…"

Buffy kissed his neck and bit it a little. After everything that happened to them, she understood that Angel was afraid to go in that territory again. Damnit. She was afraid to wake up without him again, but everything was all right. His soul wouldn't leave again and they could live as happy as they wanted. She knew she was going to die earlier than most people did and she wanted to enjoy everything. Angel was her everything.

"We can do all of this, but I want you… I am… I am tired of…playing with myself alone."

Angel looked at Buffy speechless. Buffy saw the exact moment she won that battle because his eyes flashed yellow for just a moment. Angel picked Buffy's hand and sucked her fingers one by one. He growled loudly and leaned to kiss her hungrily. When her need for breath made them separate, Buffy jumped from the tombstone and walked past Angel. He looked confused at her and growled, his desire finally winning over his control. He morphed into his vampire visage. Buffy gave a small smile.

"You want me baby?"

Angel gave one step towards Buffy, who gave one step back as well.

"Come and get it… big boy."

She sniggered and ran.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN.: Finally some smoochies. I hope you like it.**


	17. In Paradise

**Wow! It's been two months! Sorry for the long delay. Here it is… ****I must say it is a little M-ishshshshshsyyyyyyyy… but it is a brand new chapter for you to enjoy.**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy arrived at the mansion door with Angel in her toes. She ran in, but before she could leave the main room, Angel grabbed her arm and turned her around. She looked up at him and all he could see was confusion.

"Hey… what is it, Buffy?"

Buffy didn't say anything. She put her arms around his waist and let herself be guided to his broad and comfortable chest.

"I… seeing that vampire and after the… whole Faith thing I just realized I can die at any moment… again…and… I just don't want to be without you. Without us. Since you came back we are kind…"

"Platonic?"

"Yeah."

"And you decided to provoke me in the middle of a cemetery?"

Buffy looked at Angel and pouted. He gave her a small smile.

"Sorry for that. I…"

"What?"

"Angelus said…"

Angel finally realized Buffy's insecurity. His behavior as of lately and the things his demon had said before.

"Buffy, I want you. I more than want you in every sense of the word. I didn't do anything because I didn't think you were ready for any… intimacy… after what happened. Angelus said what he said because he wanted to hurt you because I love you. I want to cherish you the days we have together, to make you forget all about those horrible months…."

"And being happy yourself."

"Yeah. I want to make love to you comfortably in a bed and not somewhere in the street. I want to wake up with you every day and make up for the day I didn't."

Angel leaned to kiss Buffy softly and tucked some of her hair behind her ears.

" Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"Do you really think that a man… well… a vampire…"

"A man."

Buffy interrupted what Angel was saying to correct him.

"…ok, do you really think that a man that achieves enough happiness to lose his soul, literally, thought the woman that made him the happiest man in the world was bad in… well… you know?"

Buffy sighed and gave Angel a smile. Thinking of this angle, he was right.

"You always know what to say, don't you?"

"It comes with age."

Angel lifted Buffy, sat in the couch and put her in his lap. Buffy leaned against this shoulder and then used her fingers to draw eights in his shirt.

"Angel?"

"huh?"

"There is another thing bothering me."

"Yeah."

"Do you… do you sometimes feel like something is missing?"

Angel sighed. The last few months were not a ride in the park for either of them, but he had Buffy and Willow and even Giles to help with his recovery and his reversal back to a person. A real person, but in the last month or so he had been feeling like something was missing. He couldn't explain it exactly. It was too primal, just like feeding… just like some part of him was missing.

"You do, don't you?"

"Yeah. I just figure it is some residual effect of my time in hell where I missed you so much."

" I feel pretty much like that day… you know… our day… when I, well, when we… and I told you I felt like I was losing you."

"I know the feeling."

Angel leaned in and kissed Buffy.

"Maybe it is something. We will have to talk with Giles."

Angel stood up with Buffy in his arms.

"Come on. Time for sleep."

"That would be good."

Buffy yearned and Angel gave her his lopsided smile. He carried her to the main bedroom of the mansion, took her in, took his shoes off and joined her. After a while, the couple was sound asleep.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"_Connor. Don't do that!"_

_The four years old energetic boy who was escalating a tree looked at his mother and smile, while winked to his father. Angel laughed. Buffy leaned down and kissed Angel's hair._

"_Angel, will you please stop your admiration-of-my-son routine and take care of Connor. He will have all of his bones broken before he is ten."_

_Angel sat in a chair in the backyard of their house contemplating his son playing around. He kissed Buffy's belly, which was the warm cocoon of their daughter. If someone had told him 10 years before he would__ found a slayer, fall in love with her, turn human and have a family and all that his father and mother had dreamed for him centuries before, he would have laughed and called the person crazy. A boy, now a girl… and the most wonderful woman he ever found were his everything._

"_Hey, don't give me the puppy eyes. Connor is egging Daniel to do the same. You do remember that Willow is powerful witch, don't you? She will take your skin off."_

"_Yeah. But you know how these two are. They love to dare each other. You just should be thankful that Alex is not here. _

"_Thank God!"_

"_By the way, when will Xander and Anya come back from their… what is it? Third honeymoon?"_

"_I have no idea__. But you can't talk about them mister I-wan- to-go-on-a-honeymoon-every-year."_

_Buffy caressed her belly. She had become pregnant with their second child in their honeymoon on Galway._

"_I do not remember you complaining… well, there was a lot of whimper.."_

"_Angel!"_

"_What? I am telling the truth. There was murmurs, ragged breathes, but I really do not remember my lady complaining."_

_Angel grabbed Buffy so she'd sat in his lap. They stayed like that until the sun disappearance._

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy woke up and realized she was holding her belly and crying, while Angel was trying to sooth her. It took her a while to be able to talk.

"Angel… I… I had a dream and you… you were… human and there was a baby and…"

"Shshshsh… it is ok. I had the same… dream, I guess… too."

"You did."

"Yes."

Buffy calmed down. Angel touched his forehead with Buffy's and kissed her slowly. After a while, the kiss grew passionate, they became more frantic and took each other clothes so they could touch bare skin. Angel took one breast peak in his mouth and sucked harshly, which made Buffy arch her back and whimper in need and pleasure. While attending to her breasts, Angel moved one hand to touch finally her center of pleasure. Buffy was completely ready for him, wet and shacking uncontrollable under his ministrations. Angel ran a finger all over her center and Buffy came screaming his name.

When she came down from her pleasure with grazed eyes, Angel was just looking at her.

"God! You are so beautiful."

Buffy blushed violently and closed her eyes smiling lazily. Angel slowly covered her body with his. He positioned himself and slowly entered her. When he was fully inside paradise, he didn't move, just stayed there. Buffy whimpered with renewed passion and moved her hips, instinct taking over, but Angel held her in place.

"Buffy, look at me."

Buffy slowly opened her eyes and she saw nothing but love and lust in the eyes of the man she loved so much. Angel just held her hand and kissed one by one of her fingers.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Buffy clamped around Angel and he almost lost his will, but he wanted that moment to last.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I want us to be like this."

Angel leaned in and kissed Buffy. She kissed him back passionately. She wanted the friction needed for release. She tried to move again but he held her in place and kept kissing her passionately. Finally, Buffy cut her flesh in one of his teeth and her blood did the trick for Angel. He started to move slowly at first, but when Buffy put her legs around his waist, he lost it. Her pleas of more, faster and harder ignited Angel's passion. He just thrust in and out of paradise. Finally, after so much time of separation and pain, the couple could scream each other's name when their moves threw them in the delicious abyss of pleasure.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN.: ****You really didn't think that I'd leave these two without smoochies, did you? I hope this chapter can make up for my long absence. I hope you like it.**


	18. He is back

**Wow! It's been seven months since the last time I update this fic! I'm really sorry that it took me soooooooooo long to come back for it, but those who are still around don't fear. Here I am with an all-new chapter.**

**Do you want to know about Connor? Yep… read on!**

**Enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

It was bright outside. Twenty years old Connor looked down through his window and saw some of his inmates running around, talking or training.

"Come on, Connor! Come down. Hann wants to have a last training session with you."

"Going."

Connor smiled. Terak and Hann were fellow inmates and warriors. Most of the beings in the beautiful dimension were warriors being protected by the Powers. Some of them had yet to be born to protect their worlds. The place was guarded by Higher Beings and several Oracles. Connor turned around when he heard the door open.

"Hey, Connor. Ready?"

That was Maleik, the female Oracle that took him from his parents. He looked up at a shelf above his bed to the picture he had of them. Buffy and Angel. One vampire and a slayer. They should be enemies, but they fell in love and created a life. Him. The stuff of prophecies. They were deeply in love. He wished he could have grown with them, but since it was not possible at the time, he was happy just in seeing them occasionally through the Eye of Time.

"Come on! Are you happy you are going back?"

"I am nervous."

"I know. Just remember. They can't know who you are yet. It will be safe for you and for them."

"And what about the prophecy?"

"You can't do anything. You mother's death won't be in vain. You have to help your father to cope with it. He will be needed."

They headed outside.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Faith woke up disoriented. She didn't know for a moment where she was. Then, the memories of the previous night came back to her. Kakistos had turned her Watcher. Faith was thirteen when Margaret found her living in the streets of Boston after she had ran away from her home, her mother and her violent last lover. The woman said she was some potential. She could fight evil and vampires. She thought the woman was crazy and ran away. Margaret found her and convinced her to go to a cemetery. There she saw her first vampire rising from the grave. It was the scare of her life. Margaret held her in place and when the things chest was visible, she shot him. The vampire crumbled to nothing in front of her eyes.

From that day on, she was a potential in training. Then, four months before her Watcher was caught by a demon to be used as bait. When she arrived in that factory, she found Margaret sat in Kakistos's lap riding him. Kakistos sent his vampires away telling them he would take care of her, just a potential, personally. When Margaret saw Faith, she morphed in vamp face and growled at her. Then, Faith said she was sorry and used the pistol with the wood bullets to kill her. Kakistos got furious and attacked her. Faith, knowing she could not fight him, ran around the factory avoiding the vampire as much as she could. She was lucky that because of his distorted nature, with the horse feet, he was not that agile in her pursuit. She used some craters in the far corner of the factory and jumped to grab some pipes near the ceiling. Kakistos had screamed she could run, but not hide forever and that all potentials should die. Faith threw her knife at him with perfect aim and ended giving him a hell of a scar in the face. One week later, she woke up feeling different. She realized she was the slayer.

She had heard of "outragenous Buffy" as her Watcher called the slayer of the time. She had a life, friends and seemed to treat her calling as an unpleasant business. She now knew the other slayer had a piece of delicious meat for a boyfriend, granted he was a vampire, but with that body, she would not mind to bang him at all. She gave a wicked smile. She knew men. She knew what they carried underneath their polite and civilized ways. She just got curious of how a vampire would be in their passion.

While Faith wanted to be The Slayer, The Slayer just wanted to be... normal. That was strange. Faith decided she would help Buffy achieve her goal.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Buffy woke up slowly and her first thought was of the strong arm around her waist. She snuggled further against Angel's broad chest. This time, she was walking up with him by her side. With Buffy's pressing her back against him, Angel opened his eyes and smiled against her hair, breathing her scent.

"Morning."

Buffy smiled, turned around kissed him, a light and chaste kiss.

"Morning."

Angel leaned down and kissed Buffy back, this time passionately for a while.

"It is good to see you first thing in the morning."

Angel remembered when he heard the same thing so much time ago. Then, they had made love and he lost his soul. Now, that was not a problem anymore. He would be with her forever.

"I like that too."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Alexander Harris woke up with a big headache because of the tequila he drunk the night before. He had met Cordelia in the Bronze, but they had another fight over the whole Angel mess. He still couldn't understand how everyone would vote for the vampire back in their life.

What if Buffy got pelvic with that demon again?

He had killed Jenny Calendar.

"He did, didn't he?"

Xander jumped from his bed when he saw Jenny standing there.

"Oh oh oh! God! I'm seeing things. No more tequila! No more tequila!"

Xander rubbed his eyes shut, but when he opened them, Jenny was still there staring at him.

"But… but you are dead. You shouldn't…"

"I am dead, Xander. All because of that vampire. I can't understand how Giles can forgive what he did to us, but I guess he didn't love me that much."

"Yeah. Me either."

"Or Angel is using the thrall."

"Thrall?"

"Yes. Master vampires like Angelus can use some hypnosis to keep people on their control. They will do everything the vampire master asks of them."

Xander looked horrified.

"Are you telling that Will… Buffy! Buffy is under his control?"

"Maybe. I know you want to save her. Out of his influence, Xander, she can even love you. Who knows if she doesn't already, but the thrall is preventing her from acting on it."

"You may be right. Buffy is completely irrational around that vampire."

"I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?"

"Yes. Do you want to be the vessel for my essence."

"Your essence?"

"Yes. Not right now, because I am not strong enough yet, but when the time comes I'll need a human body to host my essence so you can perform the magic necessary to release your friends from Angel's thrall. My essence will give you powers you can't imagine. You will be stronger and a fit mate for the slayer. "

Xander could see himself with Buffy, making love to her, her belly protruded with his child, a house. That was what he wanted.

"Yes. I will."

"Good. I also need you to keep your eyes on them so you can tell me what is going on."

"I won't be around them. I hate that vampire. I just can't stand him groping Buffy. It is sick."

"Don't worry. You don't have to be their friends, but you can talk to your friend Willow occasionally."

"That I can do."

"Ok. I have to go. If you need me, you just have to come into your room and say my name."

"Ok… and… Jenny."

"Yes."

"Thanks for let me help you to get rid for that filthy demon."

"You and I have the same goal, my friend. Vengeance."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Willow woke up giddy. During that whole week, the school would host a Career Fair. Some of the mainstream names in the computer industry and great universities would be around. She was curious to know if she would get called for something.

She was daydreaming of working for Microsoft or Google when her brother opened the door.

"Come on! Will. Get up and get ready so I can get to your school and mine on time."

"Steven Rosenberg, don't you knock?"

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN.: You can pretty much say that Connor grew in a good dimension. So, he will be a good young man instead of only The Destroyer. Got the "only"? Ah! He will be Steven again.**

**Just so you know. Big. Surprise. Lies. Ahead. Something good!**

**In addition, Tara (as a friend only), Dawn and Doyle will be introduced soon. **


	19. Helpless Part I

**Wow! It is been forever, huh? I'm really sorry it took sooooooo long to update my fics, but I'm back now for good… better… to end them. So…**

**Enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"Steven, why are you nervous?"

Willow found her brother behavior too strange. He was in hurry for no reason at all. She had asked him if he had some college test or if it was a girl, but he stayed tight lipped. She knew her brother well enough to know that something was bothering him.

"Why are you asking this again? I told you there is nothing important."

"You are agitated. You are driving too fast. You are holding that wheel as if it is your salvation. You are sweating."

Steven looked to his sister for a moment and made a face.

"Something is definitively bothering you."

"It is nothing. I just want to drop you at school. I just want to arrive there."

"Why the man who told mom and dad just after his graduation last year that he wouldn't put his feet in SunnyHell School again is running to go there? Or am I so annoying that you are in a hurry to dump me there?"

Steven was in fact in a hurry. He was beyond nervous because he was going to see his mother for the first time. Then, he was probably going to see his father some time today too.

"And you are nervous."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"Giles, this can't be happening! I…"

Buffy stopped what she was going to say when Willow and her brother entered the library.

"Hi, guys"

"Good morning, Willow."

Buffy ruffled. Willow looked from Buffy to Giles.

"What… what is going on?"

"I have no power, Will!"

"Huh? What?"

Buffy threw her arms up and then started to pace.

"How… how this is possible?"

"I don't know! I-I have no strength. I have no coordination. I throw knives like..."

"Like a girl?"

Buffy threw a dirty look at Giles.

"Like I'm not the slayer."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Steven stood at the library entrance. He was seeing his mother. The woman who had given birth to him some weeks before and didn't remember much.

She was much more beautiful than the Eye made justice. He could feel the power reeking of her too. She was so much more than she thought. She was destined to do many things. To lead a war against many entities that were trying to end the world. He wanted to run and rug her. He wanted to jump with joy. Scream with joy. He wanted to cry. He felt so many emotions and suddenly he realized it was not fair that he had to hide from her and his father.

Right now he wanted that his father was here too.

"Steven. Steven."

"Huh?"

Willow had turned to talk to her brother about the book he wanted when she caught her more than pale brother looking at Buffy. She couldn't explain it. It was like he'd seen a ghost, but there was something more.

"Are you ok?"

"Huh?"

"Are you ok? You are standing there just looking at Buffy like you'd seen a ghost."

"I'm ok. I was not looking at Buffy. I see her every day. I just had my… my eyes fixed, but I was not here. I was just thinking… and I'm babbling. Sorry. I was thinking of something else."

"Ok. Come on. Let me show you the book you said you need or you will arrive later to your classes today."

"Ok."

They didn't realized that it was Buffy who was looking strangely at Steven.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Giles was tired. His training of Buffy and the preparations for her cruciamentum were taking his mind away. He was disgusted with himself for doing it. He knew for sure that Buffy was going to pass the test without problem. She was strong minded, resourceful and unpredictable. Not good for a vampire at all.

The problem was that he was not the Watcher he came to Sunnydale to be. His slayer was not only The Slayer of the moment for a watcher. Buffy was the daughter he never had. He cared for her deeply. However, what was bothering him the most was to put in a girl without powers to the cruel test. Living and training Buffy made him care for the subject of his training and think of all those girl who sacrificed their life in the fight against evil. Yet, the council had put in all of them to the cruciamentum and some had died on it.

It was more than time for the stupid costume to be stopped.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"I have a present for you."

Buffy sat on Angel's legs with her head comfortably rested in his shoulder. Angel sat on the carpet and was propped against the old couch in the room, which was illuminated mostly by the fire of the chimney.

"You didn't have to give me anything."

"Maybe, but I like to spoil my girl."

"Spoil me is good."

"Yes. Besides, it is your birthday."

"Please. Don't remind me of that."

Angel caught the small package inside his jacket pocket and gave it to Buffy. When she opened it, she found a gold Claddagh ring.

"Oh my God! Angel… it… it is beautiful."

"You like?"

"I love it."

"I wanted to give you a new one and make new memories for the night of your birthday."

Buffy looked at Angel with tears already running her face down.

"Last year… last year something was taken from us. From you. I want to give it back someway. I want to make love to you in the night of your birthday and wake up with you tomorrow as it should have been a year before. Buffy. I love you. I love you more than I can ever explain. I know that maybe I am being unfair to you. I know that I should leave you so you could have a life outside this freak show that is your calling. I wish I could be that strong, but I can't. You will have to tell me when to go if you get tire of me ever because I don't think I can leave you on my own."

Buffy could not say anything. She just kissed Angel softly. After a while only the sound of love could be heard.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

"What? Trevis, you can't be serious. Kralik is…"

"Your accounts of your slayer made us think she is far more resourceful than the average. So, we opted for a… let's say… better challenge."

"I don't approve of this."

"You may not approve. You just do not interfere with it."

Both men turned around when they heard the vampire, Kralik, screaming in pain for his pills.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: Things are going to be a little different of what happened in canon. Next. Angel and Steven will meet. In a peculiar way.**


	20. Helpless Part II

**Just enjoy!**

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Angel woke up when the first signs of the sun raising appeared. He tightened his grip on Buffy and smiled when she snuggled against him. Angel was glad that they could have their morning after even if it was because Jenny ensured that his soul would not go anywhere… with her life.

After the memories of killing Jenny had come back, he just brooded. He did not eat or talk to anyone. Buffy had been worried sick he would do something stupid again. He had unintentionally heard Willow tell Buffy that he would not do anything because he loved her. Buffy had told her she was afraid he would eventually leave because of their disability to be a couple. That was when Willow surprised Buffy by telling her that Jenny had altered the curse so no happiness clause existed. She had also made sure the soul could not be taken by any other way.

Angel stared adoringly at Buffy, while she slept. After sometime, she snuggled against him again and slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey. Happy birthday."

"Hey."

"You look beautiful."

Buffy straightened her eyes and ran her hand over her hair.

"Oh Gosh! Not good! No good at all."

Angel gave Buffy a silly smile when she looked at him.

"You are a liar, a beautiful liar, but a liar nonetheless."

"You are beautiful."

"Yeah".

She made a face and leaned over his chest again.

"It's good you know. Wake up in the arms of my creature of the night boyfriend."

"Yeah. I… I know the feeling."

They stayed there for a while basking in each other arms.

"Can you stay here today?"

"Angel, I have school and…"

"You told me that you trained on stones with Giles yesterday. Then, when you went to lift something in his office, you realized you couldn't. That was too sudden. I know Giles is researching it, but I am worried. Kakistos is still at large. I know he can't come for you during the day, but other demons can strike and you can't defend yourself."

"I know. I want to stay here too, but I have to talk to Giles. I'll go there see if he found something and come back here. Mom can write a letter telling I am sick or something later."

Angel didn't like it, but he didn't have a phone in the mansion. He had decided to move back to the place because it didn't feel right to be in Buffy's house after everything he had done. He needed to change the place to be friendlier to his wife. He had given Buffy another Claddagh the night before, which was for him a renewal of his vows made a long night ago when he had made her his.

"Ok. You go and come back. Just… just take care."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Connor woke up with a bad feeling and that was never a good thing. He was worried. He took Willow to school, but didn't see his mother there. He knew she had lost her powers the morning before and nobody knew why. Giles, her watcher, was researching, but didn't find anything.

He was driving back home from UC Sunnydale when he saw his mother in the other side of the street. He was going to call her when a car coming from the opposite direction stopped in front of Buffy. Next thing he knew was the car leaving… and his mother nowhere to be found.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Giles was tired. He did not sleep the night before worried about Buffy's safety. He knew that she was protected at night by Angel. However, during the day she was an easy target to any demon who decided to attack besides the Watcher council, which had a team ready to catch her so she could be taken to her Cruciamentum.

He was waiting for her to appear when an out of breath Steven burst through the library door.

"Giles! It's my m… It's Buffy. She was taken."

"What?!"

"I was driving and saw it. She was walking and some van stopped in front of her. It blocked my view, but when it moved again, she was not there."

Giles paled. The Council team.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Angel woke up with his stomach churning violently. He turned to the window to see the sun up. It was ten in the morning and Buffy wasn't back yet, which got him worried. She wouldn't be away that long and something was telling him that she was in danger.

He put on a black shirt and went into the main room of the mansion. He started passing back and forth, cursing his existence for he could not go out to help Buffy. He knew something had happened to her and in his agony, he picked a vase and threw it at the wall.

He sat down in the couch and flickered his eyes towards the curtain. The sun was up and he could not do anything. He could feet it blazing in all of his glory outside, while he was a caged animal. He was trying to decide what to do when he finally heard the sound of a heartbeat and a car stopping outside.

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Steven had come to fetch Angel as Giles ordered. The Watcher had been agitated to say the last and it was clear the man knew something. Giles had asked him to get Angel and bring him to his house.

Now he was outside his father's house. He had wanted to see him since the day before, but he didn't want it to happen in such a situation. He breathed hard and headed to the house when he heard a growl and the sound of something breaking. It seemed that his father already knew something was wrong with Buffy.

He had to smile at that. His parents didn't know their souls were the stuff of wonder in The Powers helm because of their importance to the worlds, but also because the souls were linked to mortal enemies, a 250 years old vampire and a slayer.

He was taken out of his thoughts when his father opened the door. He realized the relief his father might have felt because he thought it was Buffy coming back was short lived when he opened the door to see Steven in the car.

The disappointed look in his face showed Steven that he was sure. His father knew something was wrong. Angel retreated to the house and Steven got in.

"Steven, what… what are you doing here? Where is Buffy?"

"Fa… Angel. She was taken."

Steven didn't feel disappointed. His father immediately vamped out and threw another vase in the wall.

"Angel. She was taken from the street some time ago. I was going back home and I saw it. I went to Giles and he told me to get you. He went home."

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Angel had gone to Giles house with Steven, who stopped his car close enough to the door so he could get in the house without burning up… too much. Steven opened the door and Angel came running to the house while covered with a heavy plastic material. He found Giles sat in the couch.

"Angel. I am happy you came. We may need you if what I think is coming to pass."

"You… Do you know what is happening, don't you?"

"Yes. It is called Cruciamentum."

Angel knew what the world mean. He was old enough to know that vampire slayers were stripped of their powers in their eighteenth anniversary. Then, they fought some vamp. He also knew that many of them died during the brutal test.

"That means…"

Angel moved so fast that before he realized it, Giles had a furious vampire baring his fangs for him to see.

"You betrayed Buffy!"

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

**AN: Angel is really not a happy fellow when people attack Buffy in any way. Well, he will be pissed off a lot more. The Council will also know of his presence in Buffy's life. That will start his own arc in this fic. Yep… Angel will have his own life and grow out of it. I just want to prove that he could be his own persona even living in Sunnydale.**


End file.
